John Wick has been leaving a trail of bodies on the big screen over the last three years, but soon he'll be putting his lethal skills to work in a different medium. Last December, it was announced that Keanu Reeves' eponymous assassin would headline a comic book for Dynamite Entertainment. Six months later, it's been revealed that this ongoing series will tell the story of how John Wick became the legend we know, love and fear.
Written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Giovanni Valletta, the John Wick comic book series will begin with the main protagonist escaping from prison and embarking on his "first epic vendetta." During his journey, he'll cross paths with a shadowy community of assassins and master The Book of Rules that "guides their lethal business." John will also have to figure out what The Three Bills are and who the mysterious Calamity is. Serving as John Wick's official original story, fans of the movie will want to read this series to learn what he was like before he became the Baba Yaga.
While the John Wick movies have done an excellent job showing how John is the best in the business, they've barely delved into his past. What little we know about when he was a full-time assassin primarily concerns his last mission before retiring and marrying Helen. In order leave this violent life, John had to complete an "impossible task" for Viggo Tarasov, and while it's unclear what exactly that entailed, it resulted in John eliminating all of Viggo's competitors, and he was only successful because he asked for help from Santino D'Antonio. The comic book series will take place long before that, but depending on how long it lasts, perhaps we'll see these events unfold towards the end of the series. For now, it will be interesting to see what John was like before he could kill anyone with any household object. Since he's just broken out of prison in the first issue, that implies that John had a rough life even before becoming a killer-for-hire.
Warning: SPOILERS for John Wick: Chapter 2 are ahead!
This comic book is just one of several John Wick projects that fans have to look forward to. John Wick 3 has been in development since last fall, and Derek Kolstad is back to write the script. John Wick: Chapter 2 ended with John being excommunicated from the assassins community and a new bounty being placed on his head after killing Santino on Continental grounds, so the third movie will undoubtedly follow up with John as he's still on the run. There is also a prequel TV series in development centered around the Continental Hotel chain, and while John Wick won't be the show's lead, Keanu Reeves might appear in it somewhere down the line.
You can purchase John Wick #1 digitally or at your local comic book store starting September 6.
