Deadline has now confirmed that American Gods star Ian McShane is set to return to the John Wick franchise as Winston, John Wick’s old ally and friend who betrayed him in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
Introduced in the first John Wick, Winston is the operator of the New York Continental, a hotel that serves as neutral ground for assassins and members of the criminal syndicate The High Table. He is seemingly an old friend and mentor to John Work, being the only character familiar enough with him to always refer to him as ‘Jonathan’ and even goes so far as to bend certain rules for John. He is still a very calculating figure of his own and in the final moments of the third film, he betrayed John and shot him off the roof of the Continental in order to keep his position as the hotel’s operator. As teased at the end of the film with John’s survival, Winston may now be on the wrong end of John’s sights in John Wick: Chapter 4.
“I couldn’t be happier than to welcome Ian McShane back to John Wick: Chapter 4. He is not only an amazing actor but is an indispensable collaborator who has helped define the world of John Wick,” said director Chad Stahelski.
SEE ALSO: Why John Wick 4 will be the action event of 2022
McShane joins returning stars Keanu Reeves as John Wick, Lance Reddick (Fringe) as Charon and Laurence Fishburne (Black-ish) as The Bowery King. Newcomers to the John Wick franchise include Donnie Yen (Ip Man) as a fellow assassin who “shares his same history and many of the same enemies” as John and Japanese-British pop singer Rina Sawayama as an as-yet-unrevealed female lead, Hiroyuki Sanada (Army of the Dead) as an important character known as Watanabe, Marko Zaror (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series) in a villain role, Shamier Anderson (Wynonna Earp), Bill Skarsgård (It: Chapter Two) and Scott Adkins (The Bourne Ultimatum).
John Wick: Chapter 4 is currently scheduled for a May 27th, 2022 release.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.