John Wick: Chapter 3, the latest installment of Keanu Reeves’ popular action franchise, won’t make use of Common’s rival assassin, Cassian, according to the actor himself. The story of a retired assassin and the fantastical world he’s pulled back into, following the death of his wife and, later, the dog she left him, became an unlikely hit that proved Reeves’ continued ability to not only kick a lot of butt on screen, but to pull in audiences eager to see him do so.

In the first sequel, the aptly titled, John Wick: Chapter 2, John took audiences deeper into the criminal underworld he had tried to escape, and that meant bringing in a number of new characters, like Ian McShane’s Winston, Ruby Rose as Ares, and Academy Award winner Common, as Cassian, a killer who gave John a run for his money in a series of memorable action sequences. Though John won the day, the film left Cassian’s story open-ended. Interestingly, it seems as though the third installment of the series doesn’t have any plans to revisit the character, however.

Common said as much during an interview with ComingSoon, in which he discussed his new movie Here and Now, and touched on his expectations for John Wick: Chapter 3, despite not being in it. Common said:


“I’m not in the third part, but I could say that I really loved being a part of “John Wick 2” and it was an amazing experience. Working with Keanu and Chad, they’re just phenomenal. Challenged and really passionate about the stuff, and I can say that three is going to be incredible, though, I’ll tell you that much.”

While Cassian was a memorable part of Chapter 2, it’s not too difficult to see why producers and returning director Chad Stahelski opted to leave his story where it was — for now, anyway. Chapter 3 already has a number of new characters and returning characters in its lineup, including McShane’s Winston and Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King. Joining them will be Halley Berry as Sofia, Gotham’s Robin Lord Taylor, Billions actor Asia Kate Dillion, Jason Mantzoukas, and Anjelica Houston. While that lineup will likely more than make up for the movie’s lack of Common, perhaps the franchise will continue beyond Chapter 3 and find a reason for Cassian to return.