Baba Yaga is heading to Japan!

Image by Jefferson Chacon

Ever since John Wick came out in October 2014, this franchise has been one of the best investments for Lionsgate. With each release, the Keanu Reeves-starrer franchise’s box office grows at an explosive rate. John Wick brought in over $43 million, John Wick: Chapter 2 garnered over $92 million, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum raked in over $171 million, and John Wick: Chapter 4, the most recent installment, has made a whopping $187,131,806 (and counting) domestically.

The John Wick franchise has expanded outside the movie world as well, having gone into the small screen world with its prequel series The Continental. So what’s next for one of the most successful franchises of our time? The ever-growing world of anime, of course. Read on to find out everything we know so far about the upcoming John Wick anime series.

The ‘John Wick’ Anime Series Has Just Been Announced

If you were hoping for a release date or trailer for the John Wick anime series, you’ll have to wait a bit longer as the project has only recently been announced. During a talk with The Discourse Podcast, Chad Stahelski, director of the John Wick movies, talked about the franchise’s upcoming TV spinoff and anime adaptation (two separate projects) saying:

“So we’re really looking forward to that; we’re really excited about it because we’re doing that and a Japanese anime because I love Japanese anime so much. So to create all the cool stories that anime could achieve better than we could and the TV show to expand our world, we’ll still get our fix, you know what I mean? And we’ll still have all the fun.”

Stahelski was reportedly less involved with The Continental but will be involved with future projects in the Wickverse, including the anime series. The other John Wick show that he’s talking about above is another new project, which will focus on the present-day world of John Wick instead of the past. Not only that, Stahelski also talked about how Lionsgate now wants them to do another series focusing more on the High Table and how characters from John Wick: Chapter 4 can be involved, including the likes of Cain (Donnie Yen), Akira (Rina Sawayama), and The Tracker (Shamier Anderson):

“Yeah, I love Donnie [Yen], I love Rina [Sawayama], love the Tracker (Shamier Anderson), and the TV show and the ancillaries will give us a chance to expand the kind of fun world we’ve created, and it doesn’t have to be John Wick, the character specific, you know what I mean so that we can explore all that stuff.”

Japanese Animation Studios That May Work on the ‘John Wick’ Anime

John Wick by PatrickBrown 

While there’s really no official information apart from the announcement of the project, it’s expected that Lionsgate will partner with one of the leading Japanese animation studios to create this exciting new series. So here’s a look at some of the acclaimed animation studios that are likely to work on the series.

A1 Pictures

A1 Pictures is at the top of the list because they already have an anime very close to John Wick in premise, which is Lycoris Recoil. Lycoris Recoil was one of the best anime of 2022 and here’s how Crunchyroll describes it: “For these peaceful days――there’s a secret behind it all.

A secret organization that prevents crimes: DA – Direct Attack. And their group of all-girl agents: Lycoris. This peaceful everyday life is all thanks to these young girls. The elite Chisato Nishikigi is the strongest Lycoris agent of all time. Alongside is Takina Inoue, the talented but mysterious Lycoris. They work together at one of its branches–Café LycoReco.”

The series will give you a great story and even greater gun fun, which can perfectly reflect the John Wick anime.

MAPPA Studio

Image via MAPPA

Mappa Studio is second on the list because, at this point, they pick up just about everything. Should they pick it up? No, but if they did, you should know Studio Mappa is of excellent quality and filled with many outstanding workers.

Studio Mappa has worked on anime like Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga Season 2, and Jujutsu Kaisen. Not only are they great with the source material, but their animation style may be more familiar to many American viewers, which is certainly a point in their favor. However, the only drawback is the possibility of oversaturation.

Mappa already does a lot of work, to the point that it can be seen as unfair to the employees, so even if they can be an excellent fit for the Wickverse, it might just be one thing too many for the studio.

Madhouse Studio

Madhouse Studios might be the sleeper on this list, but they will give you heat almost every time from shows like Black Lagoon (Another series similar in vibes to John Wick), Hellsing Ultimate, and Trigun. Also, the studio is known for its movie-quality animation and storytelling. Of course, that would ultimately depend on the budget.

Some of the best (and underrated) examples of their work include Perfect Blue, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, and Paprika. Madhouse Studio might be the most flexible because it gives you so much content; if Lionsgate wants to provide them with a reasonable budget, the series could be on par with iconic shows like Trigun, or even better.

Production I.G

Image via Crunchyroll

Production I.G. is fantastic when it comes to emotional storytelling with titles like Run with the Wind, Bunny Drop, and Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit as prime examples.

But while that is important to the world of John Wick, Production I.G. can also go hard with its action and worldbuilding, as evidenced by its work on Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass, and early seasons of Attack on Titan. Production I.G is another perfect candidate for a John Wick series, considering the sheer talent in this studio.

Wit Studio

Image via Funimation

Last but not least, Wit Studio is a studio that is constantly compared to Mappa, which is fine because these two studios are on the same level. Wit Studio also would be the perfect choice for the John Wick series.

Wit Studio perfectly combines action and story to fit the series they are working on; no one series is like the other in their library; whether it is something as creative as Ranking of Kings or something more grounded like Vinland Saga Season 1, Wit will never let you down with their content. Much like John Wick is all about adapting to his situation, Wit Studios is all about adapting to their stories.

Where You Can Watch the ‘John Wick’ Movies and ‘The Continental’

It’ll be a while before we get to see the John Wick anime series. So, in the meantime, how about catching up with the rest of the franchise? You can now stream the first three John Wick movies and the prequel series The Continental on Peacock, while John Wick: Chapter 4 is available for streaming on Starz.