However, as every fan of the franchise knows, the John Wick movies are about one thing above all: action. As a result, Ian McShane’s Winston has been compared to the God of the Underworld himself, with members of this twisted world even using the same coins that would be required to travel on Charon’s boat (the same reason that all the funeral scenes in Wolfgang Peterson’s Troy feature the bodies being burned with two coins over their eyes, guaranteeing they carry money for safe passage with them). The late Lance Reddick’s character of the concierge goes by the name Charon, the spirit that guided Ancient Greece’s departed souls along the River Styx, taking them to their final resting place in Hades’ Underworld. While Wick bares little resemblance to the actual Baba Yaga, who kidnaps and cooks children in a house that walks on two giant bird legs, the mythological references hardly stop there. The mythology Stahelski borrowed to sell John Wick’s legendary status extends far beyond the Greek, with the first film of the franchise instantly dubbing Wick as the ‘Baba Yaga’ (more commonly known in the West as the Boogeyman). John Wick pulls from Keanu Reeves’ iconicity and his own involvement with The Matrix to sell the character of this retired, widowed assassin as a legend in the hidden society of invisible killers who walk among us every day. With a relatively modest opening installment that just kept growing and growing with every new cinematic chapter, director Chad Stahelski brilliantly utilized the Hollywood myths of the action film genre. While not directly based on any existing Greek myths, as in the case of the aforementioned superheroes ( Gerard Butler’s Leonidas included), the John Wick franchise itself has been an act of mythmaking from the very beginning. Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4You may not have realized it from the poster alone, but John Wick: Chapter 4 arguably has just as many references to mythology as Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Wonder Woman, and 300, the likes of which peak in both subtlety and significance during the instantly iconic staircase sequence preceding the film's climax.

The hidden movie poster