A week prior to John Wick: Chapter 4’s release, Lance Reddick passed suddenly on Mar. 17. John Wick: Chapter 4 marks Reddick's last appearance as Charon, as his character also died in the film. Reddick has been a part of the John Wick family since the beginning when he joined the franchise as Charon in the first film John Wick released in 2014.
Chad Stahelski, who’s directed all John Wick films, said that deciding to kill Charon in the movie wasn’t an easy decision. The director believes that Charon’s death is significant for the film’s storyline; the director told EW,
"Lance has been a big part of our crew since the very beginning," said Stahelski. "You never want to kill off a character just for a gag. You know, if you're uncreative, and you can't think of something cool to do, and you don't know how to get a good emotional response, you kill them — we didn't want anybody to think we were just doing that. But it's hard to do a movie about death and fate and consequences when there are no consequences.”
Since they wanted to keep Reddick in the franchise, they did everything they could to retain Charon, but it just wouldn’t work. He added,
“We tried doing it without that scene. We wrote many different versions, where other characters had been terminated. No matter which character we tried to kill, it just didn't come full circle as well as it did by having Winston sent on his own journey."
Lance Reddick Cared So Much for the John Wick Franchise
The director shared that he discussed Charon’s death with Reddick for a long time before they filmed his death scene. Stahelski said Reddick had a few suggestions on shooting the sequence. He said,
"I didn't want to just say 'you're going to die' without thought," said the director. "We talked about it for weeks and weeks. And Lance was like, 'Well, can I at least say, "It was an honor to be with you, my friend?" Can I tie it in?' I'm like, 'Yeah, dude. You've just got to be understanding of the cast and workshop with them and help them make sense of it, so it makes sense in the movie.'"
Stahelski also revealed that rather than sulking on his character’s farewell to the franchise, Reddick was very cooperative, which shows how much he cared for John Wick. The director added,
"Lance and Ian really put a lot of time and thought into it. That's when you see the quality of character that Lance Reddick has. He understands and he's willing to do what's best for the film. Lance has made every one of these better because of his presence."
John Wick: Chapter 4 is out now in theaters.