Marko Zaror will play an antagonist in the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4, and the Chilean martial artist can embody an opponent that John has never had to face before. Zaror is joined in the fourth installment by Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Scott Adkins, a roster that clearly shows the Keanu Reeves-led series has brought aboard some big guns in the martial arts movie world for Chapter 4. The franchise has always been heavy on martial arts fights, but Zaror's casting could add something very unique to the series.
Over the course of Zaror's career in action movies, he's stood out for his astonishing agility and the gravity-defying kicks and somersaults he can execute with ease, alongside more grounded fighting techniques. What's made Marko Zaror a particular anomaly is the fact he's a much bigger man than one would expect to see doing the kind of flashy maneuvers associated with Jet Li or Thailand's action king Tony Jaa. Though Zaror's physique is relatively trim, his height and overall frame are still larger than what is normally expected of someone who can pull off the techniques he can.
With Marko Zaror reportedly to appear as one of the main enemies chasing after John in the sequel, he can portray an opponent that John has, quite simply, never had to deal with before. Throughout the first three movies, Wick has battled assassins with a wide range of different skills, fighting styles, or assassination specialties. However, he's yet to face an opponent who can not only match him in terms of fighting skill but who also has the added asset of a significantly built body on his side.
John has faced formidable martial artists throughout the series, with the third film alone including Tiger Chen, Mark Dacascos, and Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman from The Raid movies, but his opponents up until now have generally been either of a similar build or in the case of the aforementioned enemies, much smaller and relying on their fighting skills to give John a run for his money. Wick's also faced bigger opponents before, most notably against the much larger assassin Ernest (Boban Marjanovic) during an encounter in the New York City library in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, but he wasn't coming from a disciplined fighting background. Marko Zaror is the first John Wick opponent to have both size and skill assets on his side.
Chapter 4 has set expectations extremely high with the addition of Yen, Sanada, and Adkins. The former two fall into the category of being smaller than John but on his level in terms of combat skill (though Yen will reportedly portray a friend of John's while elevating the action of the movie itself). Scott Adkins, meanwhile, is closer to Keanu Reeves' body structure, while being an extremely skilled martial artist himself. Nevertheless, among John Wick villains, Marko Zaror's body type, versatility, and predilection for techniques unbecoming of his own build, make him unique. Though John Wick: Chapter 4 is openly advertising the amount and level of martial arts the sequel will deliver with the boarding of Yen, Sanada, and Adkins, Marko Zaror can portray an opponent that Baba Yaga has never had to contend with, which will make for an explosive showdown.
