John Wick: Chapter 4 might be breaking a long-running franchise trend with the new villains. Keanu Reeves' assassin will face his most challenging conflict yet in John Wick: Chapter 4. With John and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) in a pitched battle against the High Table, John might finally be able to escape their grip for good.
Among John's enemies in John Wick: Chapter 4 is The Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), who will battle John directly as a representative of the High Table. In an interview, Bill Skarsgård stated that the Marquis de Gramont's mission of killing John Wick "would secure his status and power within the High Table." With Skarsgård also describing the Marquis de Gramont "as someone from the gutter that now savors the glittery suits he’s wearing," this could hint to him being a villain with significantly different motivations from previous John Wick antagonists.
John Wick's Enemies Have Greatly Respected Him
John Wick's reputation as an assassin precedes him throughout the world, and the level of respect he commands for it is a staple of the John Wick franchise. In the first two John Wick movies, both Viggo (Michael Nyqvist) and Abram Tarasov (Peter Stomare) emphasize John Wick's legend as the Baba Yaga to all who underestimate him. That sentiment is shared by all of John's enemies throughout the series, even as they are in the midst of trying to kill him.
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum even goes as far as to show Zero (Mark Dacascos) and his Shinobi students as outright fans of John's, which they make a point of telling him as they fight. With John being held in such high regard by his adversaries, there has never really been a John Wick villain who sees him as an enemy in the more traditional sense. Making a change to that villain formula could be one of the ways in which John Wick: Chapter 4 is keeping the franchise fresh.
How The Marquis de Gramont Might Be A Different John Wick Enemy
Per Skarsgård's description of the Marquis de Gramont, he seemingly sees John as little more than a means to the end of amassing power. While John Wick's battle against the High Table immediately makes the Marquis de Gramont an enemy of John's, he also seems to oppose John on a more individualized level. As such, the Marquis de Gramont could potentially be the first to drop all reverence towards John Wick, seeing it as a weakness that was the downfall of John's past enemies.
The Marquis de Gramont having a rags-to-riches type of origin story might also instill within him some genuine anger and even hatred towards John. After having achieved the High Table status that he has, the Marquis de Gramont might see John Wick as the one man who can take it all away from him. That would not only make the Marquis de Gramont a unique character in John Wick: Chapter 4, but possibly the most aggressive and subtly desperate enemy that John Wick has ever faced.
