Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for John Wick: Chapter 4!
Despite upping the body count for the latest installment, producer Erica Lee feels John Wick not killing Mr. Nobody in John Wick: Chapter 4 was important. Played by Shamier Anderson, Mr. Nobody, also known as Tracker, is a bounty hunter with his sights set on Keanu Reeves' eponymous assassin, though bides his time taking Wick down until the reward hits a certain point. After multiple tense confrontations, however, their final fight ends with Wick shooting one of the Marquis de Gramont's men to save Nobody's dog, thus earning his respect.
With the new film's release, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with Erica Lee to break down John Wick: Chapter 4. When asked about the importance behind the "intimate moment" of John Wick letting Mr. Nobody live, despite having the drop on him, the film's producer explained the need for there being "some respite" between the film's various action scenes in order to allow the audience to breathe and stay true to its characters. See what Lee shared below:
I think that you always need some respite in between the exhausting, very long, insane action. I think we're always looking for quiet moments, funny moments, and let the audience off the hook to breathe and to feel. That character of [Mr. Nobody] is deeply influenced by Westerns like The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and things like that. I think that the brotherhood and the code is something that we're always exploring in the movies. The idea that John would let him live, and that they sort of empathized over dogs is so on brand for us and was really an important moment.
The Smaller Moments In John Wick 4 Are Its Biggest Success
As Lee notes, Keanu Reeves' assassin letting Mr. Nobody live over their common love of dogs stays true to the action franchise's roots, having started with Wick seeking revenge for the death of the puppy gifted to him by his late wife. Though occasionally used as a running joke by Wick's enemies in the sequels, Wick and some of his compatriots continued their reverence for canines, namely Halle Berry's Sofia who trained her two Belgian Malinois for fighting in John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum.
In addition to keeping the dog motif running, Wick letting Mr. Nobody live was one of the multiple smaller moments that ultimately make John Wick: Chapter 4 more of a success than some of its predecessors. When also looking at Wick's reflections on what freedom actually means and whether he is capable of regaining a quiet life, as well as Donnie Yen's Caine struggling with his task of takind down his old friend, there's a far bigger sense of emotion running throughout the latest film that makes it one of the best chapters yet.
With many of these supporting characters living to the end of John Wick: Chapter 4, it will be interesting to see if any of them get another opportunity to further explore these smaller moments in sequels or spinoffs. Anderson himself has expressed his hopes for a Mr. Nobody spinoff featuring Berry's return as Sofia, while Yen has also confirmed talks of a Caine spinoff. Plus, with Lee recently revealing a secret John Wick universe movie is in development, alongside Ballerina and The Continental, the door is open for more.