What were the original plans for the ‘John Wick 4′ post-credits scene?

Fans who have headed to the theaters to watch ‘John Wick: Chapter 4′ and stayed until the very end know that there is a post-credits scene that changes things for at least one character.

Judging by the opening weekend numbers, quite a few people have taken in the latest instalment, which broke the franchise’s opening weekend numbers by bringing in $73.5 million.

End-credits scene for ‘John Wick 4′

Safe to say the following contains spoilers, so those who haven’t watched the film have been warned.

The film ends with Caine (Donnie Yen) approaching his estranged daughter after being released from his duties with the High Table.

However, just as we see him move towards her with flowers in his hands, Akira (Rina Sawayama), the Osaka Continental Hotel Manager whose father was killed by Caine in front of her, emerges from the crowd.

Akira can be seen revealing her blade before the movie cuts to black, leaving it open as to whether she will avenge her father’s death.

The scene was originally different

Speaking with Collider, director Chad Stahelski says that the scene was originally much less subtle.

“It’s funny, we shot that, there’s a real scene that goes along, like Donnie coming up, you think he’s got it, and then Rina goes and gets him, and then there’s this whole death scene with Donnie Yen dying,” said Stahelski.

“We had a whole thing where you actually see the demise. But we watched it and I kind of felt like, “Well, that’s not as cool as not knowing.” Like, does Rina go down that road? You know, we have John Wick and his demise, and we’re like, “Well, let’s open the door to the new John,” like, “Who’s the new…” And we’re like, “Akira.”

Stahelski added that the original plans didn’t get the message he wanted across, as it was a little too much, with the more subtle approach proving to be much more effective.

“She’s got the motivation. She gave John the ultimatum. John chose not to honor that, but he chose to honor something much bigger. So, we had this whole scene and we’re like, “Well, that doesn’t really say what we want.” It was a little too much, and we didn’t think it was really nailing it,” Stahelski added.

“So, my editor Nathan Orloff had a nice idea and was like, “What if we don’t see it? What if you leave the audience to that? What’s the choice?” Rina has a choice, she opens the knife, but does she actually, you know, hit Caine with it? And we’re like, “That’s awesome. Let’s just try it.”