The Equalizer Director Got Asked About A John Wick Team-Up, And I’m Really Digging His Answer

Denzel Washington in The Equalizer/Keanu Reeves in John Wick
(Image credit: Columbia Pictures/Lionsgate)

Much like just about every actor in Hollywood is involved in one superhero franchise or another, just about every actor in Hollywood has a “one man takes on the world” action franchise. Denzel Washington recently took center stage in The Equalizer 3 which is set to be his final go-round as former special agent Robert McCall. However, it sounds like director Antoine Fuqua might be up for bringing it all back if a team-up with John Wick was on the table.

Speaking with CBR, Fuqua was asked which of the other great solo action heroes he would like to see Robert McCall team up with. He chose Keanu Reeves’ John Wick because he thinks the pair have very complementary skills when it comes to beating the hell out of a large number of people at one time. He explained…

That’s an interesting question. I think it would be a lot of fun with John Wick. They are very different. If McCall needs some weapons or some guns, I would let John do that. When it comes to up-close brutality, let McCall handle that. They are very different.

Certainly, both Robert McCall and John Wick have shown they are more than capable of killing a lot of people in just about every conceivable way. John Wick has both “pencil” and “book” among the tools of death we’ve seen him use, but each one of them certainly has their strengths. Wick is clearly more comfortable with a gun than without one, while Robert McCall has a skill for setting traps and is even more dangerous if he can get a hold of you with his hands.

Honestly, this sounds like an awesome crossover that I now need to see. While I’m not sure that former government agent McCall would be a big fan of former contract assassin Wick, the two men would likely find themselves on the same side of whatever conflict presented itself to them now. And the fact that each man is all but killable alone would make them an absolutely incredible team. 

If there’s a downside to the team-up, it’s that any movie that actually gave us that would probably be a bit lacking in the tension department. How do you even make a story that would put John Wick and Robert McCall in any sort of jeopardy? They would be so unbeatable they’d just kill everybody and go home.

Of course, there’s also the problem that, at this point, it doesn’t look like we’re likely to see any more movies in either franchise. We were told Equalizer 3 would be the end even before it was released. While it’s not entirely clear if the John Wick franchise is over, there was set to be a John Wick: Chapter 5 at one time, the John Wick: Chapter 4 ending certainly leaves the story in a good place to close. This team-up is something we’ll almost certainly never see, but it would have been fun to watch.  

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.