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Sitting down with Variety as a part of their 10 Screenwriters To Watch in 2025 interview series, Austin Everett, whose adaptation of the novel Traveler by Joseph Eckert is now set to be produced by Paramount, dropped the bomb that he’s come up with an original samurai Western set in the John Wick universe. “That’s probably as much as I can say,” he stated, leaving us all scratching our heads and wondering how exactly this will fit into the narrative that we’ve come to know and love. Exactly none of our above-mentioned questions were answered, but we can’t help but be intrigued by such an out-there premise.
If Done Right, The Potential Spinoff Could Have A Big Payoff
The John Wick series is no stranger to spinoffs, having already released the Ana de Armas-led Ballerina (that led to major monetary losses for the studio), which took place between John Wick 3 and the 4th film in the franchise. There is also an as-yet-unnamed animated prequel and a story centered around side character Caine that are currently in the works. But it’s a simple fact that John Wick has become known as one of the most badass action heroes in recent years, and that it’s the main movies starring Keanu Reeves that are what pull in the big money and viewership numbers for the franchise. And we already know that there may have to be some big changes to how the films operate if we can hope to see Reeves step back into John Wick’s shoes for the fifth movie.
Obviously, there’s no way that Reeves would be bringing John Wick to life in this potential new spinoff. But something as outlandish as a ronin-style Western could push the envelope just enough to really boost interest and add fresh intrigue to the franchise. Westerns already typically closely resemble the traditional narratives of samurai and ronin (just look at Blue Eye Samurai), so blending the two styles together with the intricate and violent storytelling that we see so much of in the John Wick universe doesn’t sound like a hard sell to us—we would definitely be sat for that.
Would you be interested in just whatever a samurai western set in the John Wick universe could be? Let us know in the comments, and check out the ComicBook forums to keep the conversation going.
