Director Chad Stahelski on Creating the John Wick Universe

But it is kind of like a secret world deal. Like you have to punch the code in to get into the door or you have a key fob. You know, that's kind of like subcultures have always interested me. There's always subrosa, right? Yeah. You know, the subrosa world of the inside, whether it's comedians or stunt guys or cops or military, there's always that in, that in click. And I think that's what fascinates a lot of people a lot of times because they don't want to be part of that little... Yes. And it's the same... Some people give me shit because we called number three Parabellum and then number four was like, just done with four. Yeah. We actually had a title for John Wick 4. It was called Hagakuri, a Japanese word that really meant like hidden leaves. It was a treatise on samurai code of ethics. And it really spoke to... It was kind of like the art of the way of dying. Like how do you prepare yourself for a good death? And a lot of it dealt with, you can only relate to people, a warrior can only relate to a warrior, whether you're on other sides or not, a cop can only relate to a cop and like, whatever a teacher can only relate to a teacher. Inside subrosa thing that only each other knew each other kind of thing. We got it, but we didn't want to put a title on it. We kind of lost it. But I thought it was a really cool thing about being subrosa or being in the inside click or something. Yeah. Maybe on the next one. Why did you decide just... It was... It was... The actual treatise, it was from like 1646 or something like that. Unfortunately, it had been used during World War II as a rallying cry for a militaristic Japan to get behind. So in some Asian markets, it could be considered... To be a problem in China and Korea. We didn't want to take the chance. It was kind of, yeah, between China and Japan and Korea. And we're like, okay, I get it. We don't want to be sensitive to that. But we still thought it was a cool name. Yeah. It's a weird world it is to make films and then have them be distributed worldwide. It's because... I'm sure you know it. You're always going to piss off somebody. You're always going to get something or somebody can be something. So you just... Again, I like doing the fantasy film kind of thing. I like creating our own world. I like doing that because it's ours and it's not taking a side. It's not really... I don't have to adhere to history. I don't have to adhere to an IP and kind of just do our thing. I think that kind of freedom helps a lot. I don't think people get... I don't know, it's bent out of shape sometimes on that because you're creating your own world. Do you feel like there's room for another thing like this in your life? Is this something you're going to try to do again? Recreate an entire ecosystem, an entire world? That's a good question. Again, like we say, it was unintentional, completely unintentional, almost a fluke. We did one. Then we did... I didn't know anything about the Continentals worldwide or the markers or anything until the second one made that up. Then the third one, we're like, oh, let's call it the high table. Sure, someone will buy that. Sure. We just keep kind of riffing on stuff to do and just use your imagination. But it works. It does. And I think, again, it's a huge thing. And it works that it's intercontinental too, that it's international. When he goes to Italy and he goes and gets suited out there. Right. That was probably one of my favorite things. I love the suit. I love the... That actor, whoever that actor was that is explaining to him the guns and... Oh, what is it? Peter Sironovitz. Yeah. Yeah, he was in a couple... He was in... God, he's so good. The suits and the guns. This whole scene is awesome. That guy right there, the ball guy right there. That's Luca Mosca. That's actually my wardrobe supervisor. I couldn't cast somebody in time, so I made him do it. Peter Sironovitz. That guy's fucking great. He's so fucking funny. Yeah, you just buy him as a complete psycho that's... He literally flew in on the day, learned the lines, did the gig and flew out. Really? Yeah, he was awesome. Wow, he's incredible. All right. What was that movie, Spy? Was Statham? Oh, yeah. He was the Italian. He played the Italian spy. He was so funny. So the guy that's doing the wardrobe is your actual wardrobe guy? Well, yeah, I couldn't... I kept telling... Like, people would come in and start reading. I'm like, just be like my guy here. Be like my wardrobe guy. We couldn't find anybody to be Luca here. And Luca was so... So I'm like, fuck it, Luca, put on... You're doing it, dude. You're doing it. And he'd never acted before? Never acted before in his life. He's great. He's fantastic. He's great.