Ballerina Ending Explained: How The Movie Sets Up the Future of the John Wick Franchise

Let's make this simple: You want to know if there are any post- or mid-credits scenes in Ballerina. The answer is no, there are none.

The rest of this article contains full spoilers for Ballerina and John Wick: Chapter 4!

The John Wick franchise is expanding again with the release of Ballerina. Set during and after the events of 2019's John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, Ballerina does feature a bit of Keanu Reeves' iconic action hero. More than you might be expecting, in fact. But the focus this time is instead on Ana de Armas' Eve Macarro, another member of the Ruska Roma family who embarks on her own bloody quest for vengeance.

Now that Ballerina has landed in theaters, let’s break down the ending to this John Wick spinoff and how it may set up future movies in the franchise. Will there be a Ballerina 2? Let’s discuss.

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina Ending Explained

In Ballerina, we learn that Eve was inducted into the Ruska Roma family as a child after witnessing the murder of her father at the hands of Gabriel Byrne’s Chancellor. Eve nurtures her hatred of The Chancellor and his mysterious organization for years, using it to propel her through her brutal training.

Near the end of that training, she first encounters the legendary Baba Yaga himself. Reeves first appears as John Wick in a sequence set during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3. We see the scene where Wick appeals for help from Anjelica Huston’s Director and has his ticket torn from Eve’s perspective. Wick then gives Eve some pointed advice about getting out of their crazy lifestyle before leaving to rack up a few dozen more dead bodies.

From there, the film jumps ahead a couple of months to the period between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. Now a full-fledged assassin in her own right, Eve goes rogue after uncovering a lead on the mysterious family who murdered her father. Before long, she finds herself torn between her deep-seated thirst for vengeance and a desire to save the daughter of Norman Reedus’ Daniel Pine. Truly, she is the Kikimora.

Eve’s quest takes her to a European village called Hallstatt, which she soon discovers is populated entirely by the Chancellor’s fanatical family of killers. Thus ensues copious amounts of bloodshed, followed by a brief reunion between Eve and her estranged, dying sister Lena (Catalina Sandino Moreno).

It’s at this point that John Wick reenters the picture. Desperate to prevent a war between the Ruska Roma and the Chancellor’s cult, the Director dispatches Wick to either convince Eve to stand down or kill her. As you might expect, she isn’t so easily dissuaded. Though Eve doesn’t quite have the skills to take down the legendary Baba Yaga, she does manage to appeal to his sentimental side. He, better than anyone, understands the idea of pursuing vengeance against all reason or logic.

Wick allows Eve till midnight to finish her bloody crusade. He even begins pitching in and mowing down cultists himself, while also saving Eve from being incinerated by a flamethrower. With Wick’s help, Eve conquers this army of fanatics and guns down the Chancellor himself. Revenge is had, Pine’s daughter is saved, and Wick retreats back into the shadows to confront his destiny.

As is often the case with this franchise, the film wraps on a pretty open-ended note. Eve is seen watching a ballet performance even as the cult calls in a contract on her. With a $4 million bounty now on her head, Eve is forced to retreat and prepare for another bloodbath. John would be proud.

Does Ballerina Have Any Post-Credits Scenes?

As mentioned above, there are no post- or mid-credits scenes in Ballerina. Once the credits start rolling, this John Wick spinoff is finished.

This isn't terribly surprising, as the Wick franchise hasn't often included end credits scenes in the past. The lone exception is 2023's John Wick: Chapter 4, which includes a tease for the planned spinoff starring Donnie Yen's character Caine.

That being said, it’s not as if Ballerina really needs a post-credits scene to tease the future of this spinoff series. The final scene in the film makes it pretty clear where the story is headed.

How Ballerina Sets Up a Sequel

It’s pretty obvious from the way Ballerina ends that Lionsgate is leaving the door open for a sequel. Eve now finds herself in a situation very similar to the one facing John at the end of 2017’s John Wick: Chapter 2. She has a massive bounty on her head, meaning an entire city will be gunning for her. The entirety of the Chancellor’s cult is now united in its desire to kill her. She’s effectively burned her bridge with the Ruska Roma by defying the Director’s express orders. She’s a woman with few allies and a whole lot of enemies.

No doubt Ballerina 2 - should it happen - will pick up where the first movie leaves off and explore how Eve deals with having the entire assassin community gunning for her. Like John before her, she’ll have to dig deep and find a creative solution to clearing her name. Or just kill every last surviving member of the cult. She certainly made a good first effort here.

We could easily see Reedus’ Daniel Pine playing a role in the sequel as one of Eve’s few allies. Reedus plays a surprisingly small role in the film, given that his character is taken out by an injury pretty early into the conflict. But it stands to reason that Daniel will feel an obligation to the woman who rescued his daughter, even if that puts him squarely in the crosshairs of the assassin community (again).

It also feels like there’s a lot of unfinished business where Sharon Duncan-Brewster’s Nogi is concerned. The early part of the movie establishes Nogi as Eve’s concerned mentor, but her character mostly fades from the spotlight after Eve goes rogue. We imagine the sequel will explore their connection in more depth, as Nogi is torn between her loyalty to the Ruska Roma and her affection for Eve.

In fact, we can’t help but wonder if Nogi was once intended to play a bigger role in Ballerina’s climax. As Screen Rant’s Alex Harrison points out, it doesn’t actually make a lot of sense for the Director to send John Wick of all people to stop Eve. John’s relationship with the Ruska Roma is basically severed at this point. Plus, he’s supposed to be in hiding as he prepares for his final battle against the High Table. Why would he risk that for the sake of one girl with whom he shared a single conversation and a family that already excommunicated him?

Was there an earlier version of the film that had Nogi, not John, be the one to confront Eve in Hallstatt? It would arguably have made more sense for the Director to send one of her finest instructors to deal with the problem rather than John. And, more importantly, it would have forced Eve to confront her mentor and deal with their shared emotional bond. There’s a greater tension with this reunion. Nogi, unlike John, isn’t protected by unbreakable plot armor.

As it is, Ballerina reportedly underwent extensive reshoots. We could easily see a scenario where Lionsgate mandated more John Wick in their John Wick spinoff, necessitating a rewrite to replace Nogi with John in the climax. But that’s just speculation.

In any case, we assume the hypothetical Ballerina 2 will dig deeper into Eve’s bond with Nogi. And, assuming the plot doesn’t jump too far ahead in the series’ timeline and past the point where John apparently dies, there’s still room for Reeves to reprise his role yet again.

But will there be a sequel? The reception to the first has certainly been solid. IGN’s Ballerina review gave it an 8 out of 10, and the film is currently at 72% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. As ever, it really becomes a question of money. If Ballerina is a box office success comparable to the other John Wick films, then a sequel seems all but assured. Lionsgate could certainly use a hit after suffering a string of financial disasters in 2024 like Megalopolis, The Crow, and Borderlands. Ballerina 2 could be just the cure for what ails the studio.

One thing is clear - there’s still plenty more John Wick content on the way. There’s the aforementioned Caine spinoff and the AAA video game, and we also recently learned that Reeves is coming back for John Wick 5. Even death can’t keep the Baba Yaga down.

For more on the franchise, check out IGN's ranking of all four John Wick movies.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.