John Wick is finally going back to the night that made him a legend. Lionsgate has greenlit an animated prequel focused on the “Impossible Task,” and Keanu Reeves is returning to voice the Baba Yaga himself, while also producing.
Fans have heard about the Impossible Task since the very first film in 2014. It is the job Wick had to finish to leave the High Table behind and build a quiet life with his wife, Helen: killing every one of his rivals in a single night. Until now it has only lived in whispered stories from other characters. This film will finally put it on screen.
Shannon Tindle, the filmmaker behind Netflix’s Ultraman: Rising and a co-creator of Kubo and the Two Strings, is directing. Ryan and Kaz Firpo, who co-wrote Marvel’s Eternals, wrote the script. Franchise director Chad Stahelski is producing alongside Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee of Thunder Road. They are joined by newcomer Point Grey Pictures, the company run by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
“I feel John Wick is the perfect property for this medium,” Stahelski said, adding that anime “holds the potential to expand our world.” The project was first revealed in 2025 as an adult-oriented anime, so don’t expect the violence to be toned down just because it’s animated.
No release date or animation studio has been announced yet.
The John Wick universe keeps growing. Reeves last appeared as Wick in the 2025 spinoff Ballerina with Ana de Armas, and a fifth live-action film is in development, as well as a spinoff about Donnie Yen’s blind assassin Caine. After John Wick: Chapter 4 seemed to close his story, it turns out the best way forward was to go back to where it all began.