Warning: spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4 are in play. If you haven’t seen the latest Keanu Reeves action fest yet, you’ve been warned.
“Who’d win in a fight?” That’s one of the most often asked questions in the world of action movies, and it’s led to many a spirited debate over the answer. For Extraction director Sam Hargrave, one such scenario has forced him to choose sides in a fictional fight between Chris Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake and Keanu Reeves’ John Wick. While it may seem natural the man favors the hero he’s about to reintroduce to the world in Netflix's Extraction 2, his reasoning for why is pretty solid.
While promoting his upcoming streaming sequel, Hargrave played favorites and chose the man who, according to Extraction 2’s latest trailer, fought his way back from death. Handing the victory to the Hemsworth hero, the director did give the man we last saw in John Wick: Chapter 4 the following advantage, telling Collider:
That's like the greatest question of all time. I mean, that's tough because, you know, I'm partial to the character of Tyler Rake. I’m gonna take away John Wick's bulletproof suit and I'm gonna give it to Tyler Rake. The dude's a badass, so there's no debate.
It does seem that one of the most favorable factors working towards Keanu Reeves and his seemingly indestructible hitman is the literal plot armor he wears throughout the John Wick franchise. All he has to do is hide his face behind his jacket, and what could have been a fatal shot becomes nothing more than an inconvenience. The Netflix character on the other hand didn’t have such luck in the moments leading up to Extraction’s ending, which left the man we’d followed through one hell of an action rampage clinically dead.
While the director’s own preference does favor the action hero that became a 2020 sleeper hit for Netflix, Sam Hargrave isn’t just puffing up his proverbial chest. Defending his choice of awarding victory to Tyler Rake, he actually cites John Wick: Chapter 4’s ending as the main reason why he believes he’s in the right.
Last call for avoiding spoilers, as Sam Hargrave gives away the shocking finale of Keanu Reeves’ latest film, as read below:
No one– John Wick is a verb now, like to John Wick someone, that’s a thing. He's a legend on screen in his own movies, and yet he's a legend now as an action icon. So no, that dude doesn't go down without a fight, but the fourth movie proves he can go down! And we've proven that our guy can be killed and brought back from the dead, so you gotta give it to Tyler Rake. A long, hard-fought battle, to be sure, but I think you gotta go with Tyler Rake.
Ok Mr. Hargrave, you’ve got me there. Extraction 2 does prove that Chris Hemsworth’s ass kicker is, in fact, able to bring himself back from the dead. However, if that’s the argument that’s going to be used to determine victory between these two parties, then perhaps this face off isn’t over just yet. If Lionsgate’s preliminary plans for John Wick 5 are any indication, then Baba Yaga might return to the land of the living himself. In which case, one could technically call any rematch between John Wick and Tyler Rake the ultimate zombie fight; making this prospect even more exciting.
As it stands, we’ll have to wait and see if another John Wick film actually gets into production. But we won’t have to wait too long for the sequel to return Tyler Rake to the world, as the film is set to open in limited theatrical release on June 9th. For those of you with a Netflix subscription, the release date for Extraction 2 is June 16th.
