Light spoilers ahead for “Ballerina”
With a full title like “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina,” one question immediately springs to mind: Is John Wick himself going to show up?
It’s a fair question. With spinoff projects, which “Ballerina” is, there’s always the question of how closely they’ll connect with their source material. “Ballerina” simply notes that it takes place in the same universe as John Wick — but then again, it’s also explicitly stated that it takes place during the events of “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum.”
So, how much of this film relies on those events? The answer: not really any of it. “Ballerina” centers on Eve Macarrow (Ana de Armas) as she begins her training with the Ruska Roma. At this point, John Wick has long been doing his own thing. But that doesn’t mean you won’t see him.
In fact, Keanu Reeves actually pops up multiple times in the movie. The first comes early on, as he pays a visit to the Ruska Roma compound. He has a short exchange with Eve, where he promises that he’s working on getting out of the assassin life.
He then shows up again in the film’s third act, sent to take care of a problem that Eve has created. We won’t spoil the details for you, just know that you will get to see him being the incredible assassin that he is.
To be clear, “Ballerina” is not specifically a film about John Wick, so his role in the story is minimal. If you are heading into it expecting two hours of Reeves being Reeves, well, you won’t get that.
“Ballerina” hits theaters on Friday, June 6.
