The teaser for the showdown with the High Table that John (Keanu Reeves) and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) are set to embark upon in the film. The trailer also showcases some amazing stunts and action, both of which go without saying in the John Wick franchise, with one snippet possibly revealing something about John himself.
The trailer shows John in a gun and sword fight with Donnie Yen's character Caine, with this moment having long been a highly anticipated one that will see Yen bring his talents to the martial arts-heavy series John Wick. What makes this moment interesting is that Caine has frequently been described as an old friend of John's in general outlines of John Wick 4. While breaking out swords and bullets is not exactly a friendly reunion, even with the amount of weaponry John Wick typically carries, fighting his friends is seemingly becoming something of a regular occurrence for John.
In John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, John was greeted with great hostility when he sought the help of another old friend of his, Sofia (Halle Berry). It was only John's marker that saved him from her wrath; Sofia was forced by High Table law to honor the favor John was calling in with the marker. Still, since John returned to his assassin life after the first John Wick, there appears to be a growing number of one-time friends of his who are not happy to see him again.
John Wick May Have Burned A Lot Of Bridges
Parabellum did not reveal the specific details of John's falling out with Sofia, but the concern that she expresses for her daughter, whom she's been forced to distance herself from, could be connected to it. Whatever the case, even as Sofia and John Wick team up, she clearly holds a rather massive grudge against him, saying that they would be "less than even" after she gives him the help his marker forces her to. There's even less known about how John and Caine come to fight in John Wick 4, but it seems that John has done something in his past to greatly anger multiple friends of his.
Part of that could also relate to John's decision to retire prior to the events of John Wick, with John potentially abandoning some of his friends in a way that left them bitter towards him. John's great desire to escape being an assassin might have motivated him to break off with friends like Sofia and Caine, who are still operating under High Table rule. John's timing or means of doing might have been hasty and unexpected for them, which could potentially explain the characters' anger at seeing him again if John's departure occurred at a time when they needed him.
John Wick is still highly revered by his fellow assassins as the legendary Baba Yaga, and he still has friends in his life like his mechanic buddy Auriello (John Leguizamo) and, before his death, Marcus (Willem Dafoe). Even so, the assassins pointing guns and blades in John's direction do not all seem to be entirely motivated by money. With the bad blood between John and Sofia and the apparent conflict between him and Caine, it appears that, for all of John Wick's fighting versatility, there are numerous friendships he has not managed to similarly maintain going into John Wick: Chapter 4.
