It just keeps getting better and better for the upcoming “John Wick: Chapter 4”, it seems. Action fans have recently been elated by the news of the fourth installment in the series bringing martial arts movie kings Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Scott Adkins on board for Baba Yaga’s next chapter. Now, ICYMI, we can add another name to that roster with the news of the great Marko Zaror joining “John Wick: Chapter 4”, too!
News broke earlier this week of Marko being given his official Continental membership card in Deadline, with Chilean-born Marko reportedly to play one of John Wick’s primary pursuing enemies in the movie. While that description is fairly open-ended, that does given some indication that Marko could be an enforcer for the High Table. That would dovetail right with the ending of “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum“, in which John and The Bowery King join forces to take down the High Table. Whatever the case may be, a Marko Zaror-John Wick smackdown is now inevitable.
The “John Wick” franchise has escalated greatly from its first chapter in 2014, with some of the best gun-fu in years (that even John Woo would tip his hat to), integrating a wide array of different martial arts disciplines into its fights. Younger audience members might now even know Keanu Reeves better as John Wick than as Neo in “The Matrix” trilogy (though they’ll get a refresher when “The Matrix 4” arrives later this year). “Parabellum” was also a big deal for the series in bringing in Tiger Chen, Yayan Ruhian, Cecep Arif Rahman, and Mark Dacascos for some of the best martial arts fights the franchise has ever delivered.
Needless to say, no one’s complaining about that practice carrying forward with Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada (who had to pull out of “Parabellum”), and Scott Adkins saddling up – Marko just sweetens the deal even more. His appearance opposite Scott in “Undisputed 3: Redemption” as the sinister villain “Dolor” is what solidified Marko as a rising action star, and 2015’s “Redeemer” remains his best outing as the hero.
The anticipation is higher than ever among martial arts aficionados for “John Wick: Chapter 4”, and anyone who knows what Marko can do surely already has impressions of his sheer strength or presence plus images of his astonishing kicking skills being deployed against John Wick dancing in their heads!
