The Ballerina Deleted Scene That Fills In The John Wick Timeline Plot Hole

Spoilers for Ballerina are below!

A newly released deleted scene from Ballerina helps to fill in the plot hole that John Wick’s appearance seemingly caused. The John Wick franchise has been branching off with new stories and characters. First was the prequel series The Continental, which told how Winston took control of New York’s Continental Hotel for the assassin underworld. The most recent release is Ballerina, which follows new character Eve Macarro, who is training to be an assassin in hopes of getting revenge for her father.

Ballerina’s story features Keanu Reeves returning as John Wick. As exciting as it is to see Reeves play Wick again, the character’s presence late in the spinoff film seemingly created a plot hole that many viewers questioned. However, it looks like an explanation was written and even filmed, which helps explain the issue, but it was cut from the finished movie.

Related

Ballerina Did Something Great For The John Wick Franchise, And It Has Nothing To Do With Action

Ballerina successfully expanded the John Wick universe in one crucial way that has nothing to do with the action the franchise is known for.

Ballerina Takes Place During John Wick: Chapter 3

With Wick seemingly meeting his end in Chapter 4, his presence in Ballerina poses the question of when it takes place. However, Ballerina wastes no time establishing the timeline, with Ana de Armas’ Eve seeing John Wick at her ballet/assassin training facility for the Ruska Roma. Eve even exchanges a few quick words with Wick before continuing his story, but the moment ensures audiences know Ballerina takes place during John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

Shortly after meeting John Wick and asking for his advice, Eve becomes an assassin in her own right. However, a job puts her on the trail of the group who killed her father, which is revealed to be a cult of killers. Eve tracks them down, discovering they populate a secluded mountain town. Eve’s rampage through the town sees the cult reach out to the Ruska Roma, with whom they have a truce, and ask them to take care of their rogue asset. They dispatch John Wick to take care of the perceived issue, which is thrilling, but causes a plot hole.

How John Wick’s Presence Toward Ballerina’s End Creates A Plot Hole

The events of John Wick: Chapter 3 see him visiting the Ruska Roma to aid in his escape to Morocco, where the character played by Halle Berry comes into play. This favor sees Wick branded and cut loose from all ties with the Ruska Roma, who helped train him. During this time, he has also been excommunicated due to the events of John Wick: Chapter 2, which saw him kill someone on Continental grounds. The early moments in Ballerina, where she interacts with John, fall squarely into the moment when the character cashes in his final favor with the Ruska Roma. Therefore, the question arises: why would John Wick return to help the Rusk Roma when they told him never to come back, honoring his excommunicated status?

Late in Ballerina, the Ruska Roma sends John to stop Eve, not entirely defining when it takes place beyond the audience knowing it is during John Wick 3. The biggest issue is that there is no reason for John to do this. With the Ruska Roma looking to save face due to Eve breaking the truce with the cult, employing a still excommunicated assassin looks bad, meaning they have plenty of other options that would likely be a more fitting aid in the situation. While the audience can brush it off, hoping to explain it away as John gaining another favor, it seems the filmmakers were aware of the story issue his presence would cause, and they hoped to solve it.

A Ballerina Deleted Scene Helps Fill In The Presumed Plot Hole With The John Wick Timeline

A newly released deleted scene helps to better explain where John is in his timeline when he arrives to stop Eve. John Wick: Chapter 3 sees the character venture into the Moroccan desert, where he meets with the Elder of the High Table, the ruling body of his criminal underworld. The Elder informs John that he can end his excommunication and the contract on his life by cutting off his finger before returning to New York to kill Winston. John then chops off his finger, but is told that even during his given mission, the contract on his life stays in place, and he is still a pariah. However, on John’s way from Morocco to New York, he is asked to stop Eve, which is explained in a deleted scene.

The deleted scene from Ballerina opens on Wick’s severed finger, letting viewers know it takes place after he cut it off for the Elder. He then spoke to the Director of the Ruska Roma, revealing that he requested transport from Morocco, which they helped him with under the agreement that he owed them a favor. The Director calls this favor in sooner than she had anticipated, as her deal with John was likely struck within the past few days, but she asks him to make a detour to stop Eve’s rampage through the cult town. John agrees, leading to the later events where he fights with Eve before leaving her to continue on his way to New York, where the finale of John Wick: Chapter 3 plays out.

It is unknown why the scene was cut, especially since it is relatively short and explains a pivotal plot element that fans have been debating. While the moment ultimately isn’t needed, as Ballerina can clearly fit entirely into the events of John Wick 3, it could have saved a lot of debate among franchise fans who walked away scratching their heads before the newly revealed information.