Was it really all about a dog? What's the impossible task?
And what's the deal with Marcus? Just how much do you remember about the John Wick series?
If John Wick has a singular narrative hook, it's that its bloody revenge mission is spurred by the murder of a puppy. Revenge is often a motive
in violent action films. Making the victim a poor, defenseless pet puts a new spin on the trope and
succeeds in getting audiences invested in John's desire for vengeance. What you may have forgotten,
however, is that the puppy no longer drives John's need for revenge by the end of the film. Iosef
Tarasov leads the home assault that ends with John Wick's car being stolen and his dog being killed,
but Iosef isn't the film's final adversary. John successfully kills Iosef partway through
the movie and seems ready to call it quits on his path of bloody destruction ... until
he's given a new reason for vengeance. "Would you kill John Wick for 2 million dollars?
After all, you were close" Iosef's father Viggo is the top
dog of the criminal empire John finds himself up against. John used to work for Viggo, and the two
share mutual respect and understanding. Viggo even goes as far as to discipline his son for acting
against John. After his son is killed, Viggo takes his anger out on Marcus, John's old mentor. Rather
than the death of the puppy, it's the murder of Marcus that puts John Wick on a second collision course with the Tarasov family.
Though John Wick is an unstoppable killing machine, he isn't entirely without mercy.
Yes, he kills hundreds of people over the course of the series, but he also
lets quite a few people live. In the first film alone, John lets several people go unscathed.
Before infiltrating the Red Circle nightclub, John has a brief exchange with the door guard, Francis.
It's clear the two know each other. "Are you here on business, sir?"
"'Fraid so, Francis. Why don't you take the night off?"
John also lets Ms. Perkins live after she tries to assassinate him. John even lets Iosef go,
a decision he comes to regret. John gets Iosef in his sights from across the room
in the Red Circle but opts to move in, to finish him off up close. He's interrupted,
and Iosef slips away. This is a mistake he doesn't make twice. The next time he
has a chance to kill Iosef, he takes it before Iosef has even finished speaking.
John's merciful side carries over into the sequels. In John Wick: Chapter 2,
John lets Viggo's brother live after fighting his way through the factory to retrieve his stolen
car. He leaves his blade in Cassian's heart, telling him he'll live if he gets to a hospital.
In John Wick: Chapter 3, he lets both of Zero's main Shinobi fighters live.
His gracious tendencies even get him into trouble in the end when Winston double-crosses him.
Aurelio is an auto mechanic who lends his services to the Continental and runs a chop shop for the Tarasov crime family.
When Iosef brings John Wick's stolen car into the shop, Aurelio recognizes it immediately.
He refuses to work on the vehicle and attempts to throw Iosef and his buddies out. When they
won't leave, Aurelio punches Iosef in the mouth. Normally, someone wouldn't be able to assault a
mob boss's son and live to tell the tale, but John Wick's reputation puts the events in a different
context. Viggo understands Aurelio's actions when the situation is explained to him and takes
Aurelio's side over his own son's. Aurelio makes a brief appearance near the start of John Wick:
Chapter 2 as well. Though he doesn't return in Chapter 3, the character is still alive and could
conceivably show up in subsequent sequels or even in The Continental spin-off series.
When John falls in love with Helen, a civilian, he needs to leave his career as an international super-assassin
behind. The trouble is, a life of violent crime isn't something you can walk away from so easily.
Since the High Table isn't introduced in the first film, it seems as though
Viggo is John Wick's direct employer, and the man who decides whether or not he can exit the fold.
Viggo can't reasonably allow John to walk away, so he devises a plan.
"I gave him an impossible task. A job no one could have pulled off."
Viggo is certain John will die carrying it out, but he doesn't. The impossible task
proves to be possible for the one and only John Wick, and his safe retirement is secured.
Not many details are known about the impossible task. It has been
alluded to a handful of times throughout the series but never showcased in any detail.
Perhaps this suicide mission will eventually be revealed in the form of a sequel flashback, a prequel, or in The Continental spin-off series.
By the end of the first movie, John is gravely wounded and running on fumes. Desperate, he breaks
into a dog pound to clean the knife wound in his stomach and staple it shut. While there, John
frees one of the dogs from the kennel and takes the poor pup with him. If you look closely at the
clipboard attached to the front of the dog's crate, you can see he's due to be euthanized.
If John had not stepped in, this second canine companion would have shared the first dog's fate.
This dog lacks a name and returns in both sequels. He miraculously survives the house explosion
toward the beginning of John Wick: Chapter 2 and accompanies John on his long walk back to
the city. At that point, the dog is remanded into Charon's care, where he remains for much of John
Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3. "Is that the dog? He likes you! Oh me, I’m more of a cat person myself"
Marcus is majorly involved in the plot of the first John Wick film. Even so,
you may have forgotten about him and his unique relationship with John after watching the sequels.
There is no mention whatsoever of Marcus in the second and third films. This absence is
a little bit conspicuous, given how significant he is in the first movie. Marcus' death is so potent,
it's what drives John to kill Viggo. Marcus can best be described as a mentor to John,
as an older hitman who showed him the ropes. There is a clear affinity and loyalty between the two
men. Marcus even attends Helen's funeral. But John Wick: Chapter 3 reveals that John was trained in
a Russian orphanage, ballet academy, assassin school. It's unclear how Marcus fits into this
equation, exactly. Perhaps he was an instructor within that academy? Perhaps he and John crossed
paths later in life? Perhaps the series' world-building was still being worked out
during the first film's development? Whatever the reason, these tantalizing details leave fans with questions about Marcus' place in John's life.
When John goes on his killing spree through the Red Circle nightclub, the partying civilians
panic and run for cover. On its own, this seems perfectly natural. After viewing the sequels,
however, the crowd's reaction sticks out. Throughout John Wick: Chapter 2 and Chapter 3,
John and other assassins frequently conduct lethal business right out in the open.
There, the public's reaction is far more subdued. Whether it's a stabbing in Grand
Central Station or a shootout in the middle of a subway platform, people never seem to pay much
mind to the violent happenings around them. In the first John Wick, however,
the crowd does react in terror when faced with the threat of violent death. It seems
likely that this difference in reaction comes from the franchise's expanded world-building.
John Wick: Chapter 2 introduces the Bowery King and his army of homeless agents, who populate New
York City's streets. This film also significantly ups the number of assassins operating in the city
and around the world. At times, it seems as though almost everyone in John Wick’s world
has some connection to the assassination trade. But this is not apparent in the first film, where
people reasonably flee sudden, bloody mayhem. "Are you scared of the f—--g boogyman? I’m not"
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