Buffy Reboot Did Happen, After All - And It’s John Wick, Everybody!

This just in: Breaking News from our bloodhoundy news team! By now you must know, dear friends, that we are all dog lovers here, so not only is the adjective entirely appropriate, but it also gives a bit of that seedy underbelly feel to our intro here, since seedy underbelly is what it’s all about, talking about the John Wick franchise. You ready? Ok here we go!

My Point-By-Point Elaboration on Why John Wick Is Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reincarnated:

Here is all the evidence we have been able to garner so far. Feel free to make it into a drinking game if you wish the next time you watch all three movies in a row. And the Buffy details? Well you know I have watched the entire series so many times I can’t even say, so while with Mr. Wick here I can’t break it down all the way to lines and seconds, with Buffy, I most certainly can. And if you didn’t catch the latest John Wick pic at the cinema? If you are a Buffy neophyte? Then warning, warning, danger, Will Robinson, because there will be SPOILERS ON TOP OF SPOILERS!

I will proceed to consider each item on my list separately and to the best of my scientific ability as to why the makers of this particular string of hit action movies (abbreviated as JW1, JW2, and JW3 from now on) actually made Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS) all over again, starting with the most important. The lead character.

John Wick as Buffy Summers. They are the action, the vessel, the movement, the instrument of death. Manus (BtVS s.4), if you will. While Buffy famously tosses away the security guard’s handgun with the words “These things? Never helpful” (BtVS s.6), in the John Wick universe, guns are what stakes are to our girl and her friends. Gunning down enemies if what dusting vamps is to Buffy, and there’s always plenty more where those came from, whether it be guns/stakes or enemies to kill/slay.

Apart from the great difference in their preferred instrument of death, both use knives and any other handy props, whatever appears on the scene at any given time. Buffy never knifes anyone in the rectum, or so we at least are led to believe, but she, too, has her share of interesting kills during the course of the series.

Also, they both have the Martial Arts fighting skills down the way everybody in both these universes seem to inevitably have, with seemingly supernatural grace. Also, killing with a pencil? This is something many characters in Buffyverse have excelled at, starting with Dawn slaying the Varsity Jacket jackass after a chilling play-by-play of attempted date rape sequence in season seven. Also, my girl Willow comes to mind with her bitchin’ honed powers. So, considering this, John Wick joins the ranks of our Can Take You Down with A Pencil -heroes, but he is not number one, he is maybe number three in line. This said, he does have the three-down-with-one-writing-instrument -kill under his belt twice over, if we take into account the legend about the Baba Yaga (JW1-3) or, the Boogeyman (BtVS s.4), the underworld assassins and other members of organized crime like to tell each other at beddy-bye, along with the one we get to witness in JW2.

Also, they both bear crosses on their person. Buffy is never seen without a cross pendant, while John Wick is seen a number of times without a shirt, and he sports a tattooed cross on his left shoulder.

We will get to the point later where John Wick momentarily becomes another character from Buffyverse, when the role of the Slayer is reserved for a period of time for someone else.

Winston as Rupert Giles. First I thought it might be Marcus from JW1, but the fact that he gets killed so early on made his gilesness impossible. Agreed, Ian McShane’s Winston doesn’t resemble so much Giles as he does the Council crony Quentin Travers, but inside the unraveling saga of John Wick, Winston is the man in the proverbial library, ready to help, someone who will hear out his worries and offers a much-needed bourbon after a hard day’s work. Besides, there is a whole different character in the JW universe representing Travers, and that would be Parabellum’s the Adjudicator. At the end of this third film, though, my theory is put under a serious test, because it seems that a betrayal takes place, leaving the Giles character once more hanging in the air. Aren’t we lucky, though, to have Morpheus come out of hibernation to have Neo’s back once more shit I mean the Bowery King helping out John?

Cassian (JW2) as Principal Robin Wood (BtVS s.7). I mean, they even look alike, with their bald heads and suits. The John Wick franchise goes as far as to include the climactic subway battle where Spike in his Seventies Billy Idol -punk look offs his second Slayer (BtVS s.5) in an empty, moving subway car, and the Slayer turns out to be Robin’s long dead mother. In John Wick Chapter Two, this fight takes place between John and Cassian, played by the rapper Common, and it is quite engrossing and performed not in a deserted car, but there are a few commuters present, frightened for their lives, and when the train hits another station, there’s a hilarious moment when everybody dashes out the second the doors open, leaving John and Cassian at it all by themselves. Since John is like Buffy and always wins, even the outcome has Buffyverse written all over it.

The way everybody dresses. It continues throughout the movies, but let’s look at a few examples: Michael Nyqvist’s Viggo Tarasov in JW1, with the red shirt under the smart, expensive suit? Can you say Mr. Trick? John’s own wardrobe is classic Angel. The ladies all dress like evil Buffy characters. All the personnel in the Continental ditto, the cocktail waitresses, everyone. Even Winston, our Giles character, dresses a little bit like Giles, he has the glasses and the scarfs and the smoking jacket and even the ancient ledgers and other priceless paraphernalia always at hand.

Also, here we are, back at the religious imagery. Very heavily represented in both universes, in people’s clothing, their tattoos, the crucifixes, right down to the rosary in JW3. Even the branding iron in JW3 is in the shape of an Orthodox Cross, for crying out loud.

The Coronation scene in Rome (JW2) as the Bronze (BtVS), with the mystical, semi-goth rock band and the huge crowd dancing, and naturally the fighting happens on the dancefloor like so many times in Buffyverse. JW1 also sports a sort of Bronze scene of its own, the scene at the Red Circle, a very Bronze feel once again to have the violent gun-toting chase meander through the dancefloor. The dancefloor is obviously a very big deal in both our universes. But I also feel the Red Circle, with the heavy hinting at it being an expensive Red District place, ultimately lacks the authentic late Nineties Goth Rock aura that is very present as well as important in JW2’s long killing/chasing/fighting sequence during the performance.

“Man, I hate playing vampire towns”, sighs Aimee Mann after her own somewhat restless gig at the Bronze. The DJ playing through the action sequence in Rome, Le Castle Vania, even sounds like he could easily be included on a Buffy soundtrack, his stuff has the very specific Transylvanian Concubine feel to it, which is the trademark for all the material on all the Buffy soundtracks I own. With the singer, Ciscandra Nostalghia – now who can think of a more insanely vampire-sounding name than that? Chantarelle would be so proud! – the music sounds astonishingly like Veruca’s band. Remember her? The wolfy hussy who lures Oz away from Willow in season four and ends up getting killed by him in his werewolf form. Now that was a killing nobody was the tiniest bit sorry for, wasn’t it? Kind of like what John is doing in his world.

And, while we are discussing music, I want to add what a relief I found it to be that in JW3, in addition to the movie proceeding lavishly into its first third without any significant gun-fighting, but progresses mainly as mano-a-mano Martial Arts combat, or by fighting with swords and hatchets and the like, very much in the Buffy vein, a lot of the battle scenes in the first twenty minutes happen with virtually no music at all. This solution can be a powerful cinematic tool, and after JW2’s never-ending inane generic synth rock music in the background of every single fighting sequence, I was happy to see the director finally changing gears.

The D’Antonio siblings (JW2) as Spike and Dru (BtVS s.2) – this, of course, if we willfully neglect Spike’s involvement in later seasons and all the changes his character goes through. But in John Wick Chapter Two, like in Buffy season two, they are the baddies, and Claudia Gerini’s Gianna even has Drusilla’s otherworldly mannerisms perfected, right down to hiding a secret blade in her hair comb to cut her own wrists with, in case there comes a time that needs extreme action, and she also dresses kind of like her. Santino, played by Riccardo Scamarcio, is bold and arrogant like Spike, he’s young and hungry for action and power, and doesn’t feel like waiting for those things to happen. Also, when shit goes down, he goes down, because he doesn’t have the wisdom to play it safe.  

The High Table as The Council. Like the Watcher’s Council in Buffyverse, the High Table doesn’t make an appearance in the saga until Chapter Two. Seemingly on their side, these organizations eventually turn on our heroes, leaving them to fight their good fights by themselves. Buffy rejects the Council, while John Wick is kicked out after breaking a cardinal rule at the end of Chapter Two, only to be reinstated as member, much like in BtVS the Council is eventually let back in in season five, when Buffy is in serious need for help.

Ms. Perkins (JW1) as Faith. The femme fatale who has the same profession as John, turns on him, tries to kill him, breaks the rules and is apprehended and killed by Winston’s men. The biggest difference with John Wick and Buffy is the fact that while he finishes off everybody, in Sunnydale, no one is ever really dead, and so Faith lives to see another day after having it out with Buffy in her apartment (BtVS s3) much in the way John and Ms. Perkins do in his room at the Continental, down to the hurling through the glass with the camera on the outside capturing the fall and the shards flying everywhere. Ms. Perkins has the Faith wardrobe, she fights dirty like Faith, she breaks the rules like Faith, she kind of looks like Faith, and yes, she even escapes her handcuffs and runs from her guard: Faith breaks her chains by threats or by other means many times during the show, while Ms. Perkins dislocates her own thumb in order to slide out from them: a very cool, very Faith thing to do.

New York as Sunnydale. Sunnydale may not be as grandiose, nor as dark and dank as New York, but it is a place where the underworld is separated from the everyday world by a very thin veil, and this is exactly how things are in John Wick’s New York. Everyone knows there’s funky stuff going on there, but apart from this small, privileged group of people, no one talks about it. It just sort of – exists in the sidelines, in shadows, just around the corner. For me, one of the buffyest locations in the JW universe was the Brooklyn Naval Yard (JW1), very much like the docks in Sunnydale where Faith liked to hang out. Also, in JW3, I need to mention that an important scene at the beginning takes place at the library. The library, man (BtVS s. 1-3). Also, the catacombs, the catacombs!, the sewers and wastelands, the deserted back alleys; the list goes on and on.

The Gold Coins, the Markers, the custom-made electronic passes for the Russian Mafia et cetera as whatever tokens the vampires or demons are trying to get at. It’s currency, it’s code, it’s an understanding within the world of vampires and assassins, and it opens doors and helps out our stranded heroes in distress. Everyone in these worlds knows what they are, their worth, and that there, too, is plenty more where it came from.

Whether it be the Word of Valios, or the elusive Gem of Amara, or whatever else wonderful nonsense, the artifacts and the ongoing search for them – and the fact that more often than not, Giles either realizes he had it all along in his apartment and had been using it as a paperweight, or that the mystical object in question is just hanging inside an ancient tomb right there in good old Sunnydale – is a powerful equivalent to the use of these similar artifacts that carry an almost unearthly weight to anyone who identifies what they are in the John Wick universe. Also, what is interesting is the fact that John has a stash of Slayer stuff I mean an Assassin’s toolbox hidden in his house under the floor of the cellar (JW1-2). This has Buffy and her pals’ secret weapon chests and drawers full of holy water, garlic and other paraphernalia written all over it.

John’s long walk in the desert in JW3 as BtVS s.5’s Vision Quest. Basically I think the entire third movie is season five in a nutshell right down to the falling off from the top of a building to a seemingly certain death, but still, let’s elaborate. John says to Sofia that he needs guidance, and after a lot of arm-twisting he ends up hiking through the desert alone, trying to get in touch with the Elder, someone who might give him answers. Buffy also wants guidance, and Giles drives her to the edge of the desert, tells her that she needs to figure it out on her own, and after she does just that, she encounters the First Slayer and receives some mind-boggling advice. It’s the same advice, give or take, for both heroes. Death is your gift. So, John is like “Yeah.”

Tarasov’s men (JW1), and basically all the henchmen throughout, as the Initiative (BtVS s.4). The commandos, creeping in John Wick’s house in the opening fighting sequence in JW1? It’s the same way Buffy prevails over the highly modernized vampire hunters because the Initiative overlooked an element not to be ignored when dealing with the supernatural: that the invisible world, the world of vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness, can never fully be explained with machines or taser blasters or tests, and to ignore the element of mystery, the magic, the mystical aspect of this other world is to sign one’s own death warrant. John Wick has the same otherworldly knowledge of his profession mere masked fighters can never comprehend, which is why he is more cunning, dexterous even right after just getting out of bed, and dangerous, and always ultimately wins. The commandos, the henchmen, everybody must and will fall in line in the face of his superpower.

Apart from the obvious Initiative parallel, I also sort of identified Viggo Tarasov (JW1) as the Master, since it was the first movie in the franchise, and although he has considerable power, he is, like the Master, in the larger scheme of things, small potatoes.

Also, it follows that by being marked as Excommunicado at the end of Chapter Two, John Wick becomes, for a significant period in JW3, not Buffy, but the Key, and as the bells toll for all the assassins of the entire world to hear the news that there is now a contract for him to be killed, it basically introduces the Knights of Byzantium (BtVS s.5) on the floor, and this, in its simplest form, is the basic starting point of Parabellum. Remember what the first knight said before dying in Buffy: “If you kill me, legions will follow. If you kill a hundred men, we will send a hundred more. If you kill a thousand, we will send a thousand!” And Buffy’s response: “A thousand!?”

Sofia (JW3) as Buffy. Okay, here we are, at the heart of things. Because when another true Buffy character presents herself, we take her as Buffy, and if you pay attention, the whole time Halle Berry is onscreen, we see a lot less of John. As I said earlier, JW2 left John in a diminished capacity. He had been stripped of most of his powers. He was now the mark. His life was hanging by a thread. So, he calls in the few favors he has left and travels to Casablanca to meet the woman who once gave him her Marker as a sign of help received, to be invoked at any time. Halle Berry, with her blond hair in a ponytail and all-black leather pantsuit is the spitting image of Buffy herself during the Scooby-Gang’s ill-fated escape in the Winnebago, and the fighting is all done in a way that lets Sofia really show her stuff. In the preceding scenes back in New York City, we even see the mandatory horses as John fights his way through some stables and takes a high-speed horseback ride through downtown while the evil nasties come after him riding motor bikes, a nod to BtVS s.6’s demon bike gang. After Sofia has done the Buffy thing and drives John into the desert, we see him on his way to restore his Slayer-self, so to speak, and this borrowed character is forgotten, for the time being.

Finally, last but by no means least: Daisy the puppy (JW1) as Angel. In season three’s Alternate Universe -episode, The Wish, Vampire Willow, after completing a task satisfactorily, asks the Master if she can play with the puppy, and in the next moment we see that the puppy in question is the imprisoned, tortured Angel, chained to the wall of the dungeon. The end of the puppy is very different in each universe, but as an element of putting action into motion, they are very much the same. Angel is what makes Buffy tick, he is the great love of her life, what gives her work passion and reason. When forced to kill him, Buffy goes off the deep end and flees her home, assuming a different identity, and in my book at least, a part of her never leaves the disgusting hell dimension with all the slavery going on underneath the streets of L.A. even after she ultimately decides enough is enough and fights her way back into daylight. But she is changed forever.

For John Wick, the puppy represents that same passion and love for his deceased wife, for a life in ruins by the time we are introduced to his story, and after watching the moronic youth brainlessly kill the one good thing left in his life, well that is the moment the man goes into hyperdrive and starts blasting off everything in sight. As far as revenge goes, I find it never as poetic as when avenging someone who had no means of doing it for themselves.

So, here we are. I believe I have made my point, and I bet after getting you all in the right mood now, you can come up with a dozen more parallels, can’t you? Thanks for reading!

This is for Paula Karatvuo.

Chad Stahelski & David Leitch, John Wick, 2014

Chad Stahelski, John Wick: Chapter 2, 2017

Chad Stahelski, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, 2019

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, 1997-2003

Picture of Keanu Reeves as John Wick enhanced with PhotoLab.