The film 'John Wick' is a 2014 American neo-noir action thriller directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Derek Kolstad. The film stars Keanu Reeves in the titular role as John Wick, a retired hitman who seeks vengeance for the killing of his beloved dog, Daisy. The film is set in New York City, where John Wick is a legendary assassin known as "the boogeyman," but after finding love and leaving the criminal underworld behind, he leads a peaceful life with his wife. After her death from an illness, Wick receives a final gift from her, a beagle puppy named Daisy, who becomes his only companion. However, when a group of Russian mobsters led by a man named Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen) break into his home, beat him, and kill Daisy before stealing his car, Wick emerges from retirement to track them down and take revenge. The film adopts a visually stylized aesthetic with action sequences that blend martial arts choreography, gunfights, and car chases. Its success has been attributed to its engaging protagonist, its gritty and grounded approach, its focus on practical stunts and effects, and its inclusion of world-building elements, such as the network of assassins and the Continental hotel. The film's critical and commercial success spawned two sequels, 'John Wick: Chapter 2' (2017) and 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum' (2019), as well as other media adaptations in the form of comic books and video games.

Each John Wick film has earned more money and recognition than its predecessor, defying the conventional wisdom about the box office's action movie landscape, normally dominated by superhero movies and science fiction epics. As The Worlds of John Wickexplores, the worldbuilding of John Wick offers thrills that you simply can't find anywhere else. The franchise's plot combines familiar elements of the revenge thriller and crime film with seamlessly coordinated action. One of its most distinctive appeals, however, is the detailed and multifaceted fictional world—or rather, worlds—it constructs. The contributors to this volume consider everything from fight sequences, action aesthetics, and stunts to grief, cinematic space and time, and gender performance to map these worlds and explore how their range and depth make John Wick a hit. A deep dive into this popular neo-noir franchise, The Worlds of John Wickcelebrates and complicates the cult phenomenon that is John Wick.

The third installment in the John Wick franchise, "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum", directed by Chad Stahelski, picks up immediately after the events of "John Wick: Chapter 2". The film follows an ex-hitman, John Wick (Keanu Reeves), who is now on the run after being declared "excommunicado" by the High Table, a secret organization of assassins who control the criminal underworld. With a 14 million dollar bounty on his head, Wick must fight his way through an army of skilled killers who are out to get him, while also trying to find a way to clear his name and restore his reputation. The film is filled with non-stop action sequences and intense fight scenes set against a backdrop of stunning locations, including New York City, Morocco, and the desert landscape of the High Table. The cast includes returning favorites such as Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King, Ian McShane as Winston, and Lance Reddick as Charon, as well as newcomers such as Halle Berry as Sofia, a fellow assassin and ally of Wick's. "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" continues to satisfy fans of the series with its slick visuals, thrilling action, and intriguing mythology that expands upon the world of John Wick.

A classic spy novel from the bestselling author, Trevanian, about a westerner raised in Japan who becomes one of the world's most accomplished assassins. Nicholai Hel is the world’s most wanted man. Born in Shanghai during the chaos of World War I, he is the son of an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father and is the protégé of a Japanese Go master. Hel survived the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world’s most artful lover and its most accomplished—and well-paid—assassin. Hel is a genius, a mystic, and a master of language and culture, and his secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection known only as shibumi. Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his exquisite mistress, Hel is unwillingly drawn back into the life he’d tried to leave behind when a beautiful young stranger arrives at his door, seeking help and refuge. It soon becomes clear that Hel is being tracked by his most sinister enemy—a supermonolith of international espionage known only as the Mother Company. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side, and on the other . . . shibumi.

When a young John Wick emerges from prison and embarks upon his first, epic vendetta, he comes up against a strange, powerful community of assassins and must learn how to master the Book of Rules that guides their lethal business. What are the Three Bills? Who is Calamity? And who was John Wick before he became the Baba Yaga? Here for the first time, read the thrilling origin story of John Wick, from "Planet Hulk" writer Greg Pak and "Dark Horse Presents" artist Giovanni Valletta.

There have been iconic moments in the action movie genre over the years, but nothing has come close to matching the kinetic, balletic gun-fu of the John Wick films. In They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored Ass-Kicking Oral History of John Wick, Gun-Fu and The New Age of Action, bestselling authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross take you behind the scenes of a franchise that includes three films with more on the way, while exploring the action classics that led to John Wick as well as the films it inspired, like Atomic Blonde. They bring you right into the middle of the action of the John Wick films, detailing how the seemingly impossible was achieved through exclusive interviews with the cast, writers, directors, producers, stuntmen, fight choreographers, cinematographers, studio executives, editors, critics, and more. Together, they break down key action sequences while also providing a look back at the road the action genre has taken that led to John Wick, and a look at the character itself, an anti-hero who carries on the grand tradition of Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name, but with a twist — and a never-ending supply of ammo — while showcasing the enduring appeal of the action movie as well as John Wick’s unique reinvention of the genre.

When a young John Wick embarks upon an epic vendetta, he comes up against a strange, powerful community of assassins and must learn how to master the rules that guide their lethal business. What are the Three Bills? Who is Calamity? And why is John Wick seeking vengeance?