Hiroyuki Sanada is set to appear alongside his 47 Ronin co-star Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 4. According to Collider, who broke the news, the Mortal Kombat and Westworld star will be playing “a key character known as Watanabe”. Unfortunately, beyond that, we don’t know much more than that about his role.
“Having long admired Hiroyuki as both actor and action performer, I’m thrilled and honoured to welcome him to the John Wick family,” said John Wick 4 director (and series co-creator) Chad Stahelski
Sanada’s been a busy guy recently. He played Hanzo Hasashi, better known as Scorpion, in Mortal Kombat and appeared as the bad guy in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead. He’s also been working with John Wick alumnus (and the series other co-creator) David Leitch, and Brad Pitt, on the action-thriller Bullet Train. Based on the novel Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka, the film will pit five deadly assassins on a Japanese bullet train against each other after they realise their seemingly individual assignments are actually all interconnected.
John Wick 4’s lined up an impressive cast so far, with Donnie Yen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Japanese-British popstar Rina Sawayama, and Shamier Anderson (Stowaway) all confirmed for the movie. Meanwhile, Bill Skarsgård (IT) is rumoured to be in talks to appear in an undisclosed role.
Plot details for John Wick: Chapter 4 are being kept more secret than the High Table’s PIN, so we don’t really know anything specific about the movie. That said, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the film will deal with John (Keanu Reeves) and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) plotting the downfall of the High Table after the dramatic conclusion of John Wick: Parabellum.
Written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, production on John Wick: Chapter 4 is set to begin in Paris and Berlin this summer. The Continental, a prequel TV series that will tell the origins of The Continental Hotel, is also in the works.
Can’t get enough fistfights, shootouts, and leaping from high places? Check out our list of the best action movies.
John Wick 4 is scheduled for release on 27 May 2022.