Dave Bautista’s upcoming film tries its hand at a premise evocative of the John Wick movies and in a manner the world may need right now. Bautista’s new endeavor comes at an uncertain time for the John Wick franchise, as Keanu Reeves’ title character presumably died at John Wick: Chapter 4’s end, and the franchise appears to be sealing his fate with moves toward spinoff projects centered on anyone but him. Whether John Wick fans will be interested in subsequent entries without John Wick is to be decided, making the franchise’s future feel like it’s on shaky ground.

Fortunately, the franchise is going into it well-prepared with projects such as the forthcoming Ballerina movie and the newly confirmed spinoff starring Donnie Yen’s Caine that are exciting and hold promise. Only time will tell how they stack up to the original John Wick series and if they can keep audiences coming back for more without Reeves. Until then, though, Bautista is offering some comic relief in a film with a familiar assassin-based premise that’ll be perfect to watch while waiting to see whether the John Wick franchise will thrive.

Dave Bautista’s The Killer’s Game Looks Like A Funny John Wick Movie

The Killer’s Game Has An Assassin Story With A Comedic Twist

Bautista stars in the action comedy The Killer’s Game, a John Wick-style assassin movie from Lionsgate set to premiere on September 13, 2024. Lionsgate was also the studio behind the John Wick films – and as The Killer’s Game trailer attests, Bautista’s new movie will similarly provide impressive, high-octane action sequences and beautifully choreographed fight scenes. Not to mention, Bautista plays the assassin, Joe Flood, a role that promises to yield some of the same types of thrills and calamities Wick encountered. However, unlike the John Wick movies, The Killer’s Game will hinge on a deliberately humorous slant.

The Killer’s Game hilariously finds Flood taking out an accidental hit on himself. While the premise is nothing new, it will be carried by Bautista, who’s proven his knack for comedy in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Knives Out franchises, Pom Klementieff, also of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, and famous funny-man Terry Crews, among others. On top of everything else, The Killer’s Game will flip John Wick’s premise with one particularly hilarious aspect that may get even the most hardened John Wick fan laughing.

The Killer’s Game Hilariously Flips John Wick’s Premise

Joe Flood Is On The Run From The Killer’s Game’s Version Of A Guild Of Assassins

As previously stated, Flood takes out a hit on himself, a decision he makes after learning he has a terminal illness. Later, however, Flood learns that the prognosis had been a mistake, but the news doesn’t deter the movie’s version of John Wick’s guild of assassins from coming after him. Although Flood will have to defend himself from an assassin faction like John Wick so often does, Flood will do so because someone at his chosen healthcare facility mixed up his test results.

The operatic violence and mayhem of all four movies spins out from a simple crime…

In addition to being a reversal of the general tone of the John Wick movies, which as a rule present their premises with sober-minded intensity, The Killer’s Game offers a subversion of another major trope from the action franchise. The operatic violence and mayhem of all four movies spins out from a simple crime where the title action hero’s dog is killed and his car is stolen, for which he seeks revenge. The exaggerated action of the new comedy similarly wrings life-and-death stakes out of an emotionally impactful event that nevertheless seems relatively minor when compared to the ensuing chaos.

1 Casting Choice Makes The Killer’s Game’s John Wick Comparisons Even Better

A John Wick Alum Joins Dave Bautista In The Killer’s Game

One casting choice seems to imply that The Killer’s Game is indeed courting these comparisons to the John Wick franchise outside of its superficial plot similarities. That choice would be the fact that John Wick: Chapter 4 star Scott Adkins will be appearing in the movie as Angus Mackenzie, who is most likely a character related to Drew McIntyre’s Rory Mackenzie. It likely won’t take much for Adkins to twist his John Wick character to fit the tone of the Bautista movie, considering the fact that his villain Killa was already one of the broader elements of the action movie.

While the John Wick cast contains a wide variety of well-known action stars, Adkins is one of the veterans of the franchise who would be best suited for the material of this new movie. While he has starred in more than his fair share of straightforward action titles, he has a broad range of experience in more comedy-forward action movies, including cutting his teeth opposite action-comedy icon Jackie Chan in movies including The Accidental Spy and The Medallion. Below, see a breakdown of some of Adkins’ most prominent action-comedy roles:

Title
Character

The Accidental Spy (2001)
Mr. Zen’s Bodyguard

The Medallion (2003)
Henchman

The Brothers Grimsby (2016)
Pavel Lukashenko

The Debt Collector (2018)
French

Accident Man (2018)
Mike Fallon

Debt Collectors (2020)
French

Max Cloud (2020)
Max Cloud

Day Shift (2022)
Diran Nazarian

Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday (2022)
Mike Fallon

Wherever You Go (2023)
Joseph

The Killer’s Game Can Give Dave Bautista His Action Franchise Replacement For Dune

Bautista Likely Will Not Appear In Further Dune Projects

Bautista, who is a former professional wrestler with the WWE, has moved on to a career as an actor with roles in various major action franchises, though he frequently showcases his range by appearing in comedies, dramas, and other genre movies. Although he has also appeared in single installments of action franchises, his best-known recurring role is likely Drax from the Guardians of the Galaxy subfranchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His tenure in the role ended in 2023, followed by the end of his second-biggest franchise role when his Dune character Beast Rabban was killed in Dune: Part Two.