JOHN WICK director Chad Stahelski says he consulted with Marvel’s Kevin Feige when expanding the JOHN WICK universe

THE John Wick the franchise has expanded from a humble, singular action film to a four-part film series and an expanding universe in the works including prequels, spin-offs, and a sequel, all in various stages of development. But the path was not clearly traced in front of its director, Chad Stahelski. She had to build it from scratch, and while he’s done an incredible job, it’s not easy.

Stahelski ended up reaching out to the Marvel architect Kevin Feige on how he went about building his cinematic universe and asked for some guidance. Stahelski explained to Looper:

“When I’m busy John Wickand we ended up trying to move to the next step a John Wick 2 AND John Wick 3between 2 AND 3 Then 3 AND 4, I called his people and asked, ‘Hey, I know Kevin is really busy. Would he mind a meeting?’ You can imagine how busy Kevin is, but both times he sat me down and gave me a few hours of his time either way. He was like, ‘Okay, how can I help?’ I was like, ‘Look, man, I get it John Wick What. Give me some advice. What’s the best way to handle it? Some people see this as a one-off. Some people see it as a cash grab.'”

He continued:

“To Kevin’s credit, he says, ‘What do you think?” I told him what I thought and he graciously gave me his thoughts on world building and franchises. I don’t know if you’ve ever interviewed Kevin, but you’re not talking to a businessman. You are not talking to an executive. You are talking to a fan. Whatever he’s saying to you, he can’t help but smile. Regardless of strategies or methodologies of building a franchise, the one thing that stands out is “I love what I do.” Follow your heart, follow your gut, respect the fans. Do what you want to see and you’ll be fine.'”

Although Stahelski admitted Feige clarified that the John Wick the franchise is totally different from the MCU:

“As for how to do it [build a franchise universe], he says: ‘I have 75 years of intellectual property. You have a movie, so it will be a little different.’ It hits you with reality. You have to earn it, man. But one of the tips I’ve gotten is to create characters you love. Very similar to what the Wachowskis taught me… [he was also] like, ‘Make every frame count, make every moment count.’ There are no throwaway scenes, there are no throwaway performances, there are no background players, foreground players – everything in front of that camera, you have to make it count. John Wick 4 it’s the culmination of that, and that comes from the Russos and the Wachowskis and Kevin who brought me home.”

It’s clear that whether or not Feige had anything to do with it, Stahelski did a great job with his story and characters, and fans are still hungry for more John Wick.

John Wick: Chapter 4 it’s in theaters now.