Ballerina trailer makes a major mistake with John Wick’s return

The first full trailer for Ballerina features spectacular action and brutal kills, but makes a mistake regarding how it handles John Wick’s return.

Ballerina is a new action movie that’s spun off the John Wick franchise, with the story playing out between the events of Parabellum and Chapter 4.

Ava de Armas plays the title character, whose real name is Eve Macarro, and who is training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.

We already knew that Keanu Reeves would be cameoing as John Wick, and thanks to this new trailer, we also now know how and why, and it’s information that does a disservice to fans hoping for a surprise from the character’s appearance.

The Ballerina trailer gives away too much about John Wick

In an ideal world, the John Wick cameo would be something unexpected that viewers could experience in real-time while watching Ballerina. But it isn’t an ideal world, and you can’t blame the Lionsgate marketing team for wanting to make sure everyone knows Keanu Reeves is in the movie.

But there’s a way of teasing his involvement without stating it outright. Instead, we see Eve embarking on a revenge mission at the end of the trailer, which the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) calls a “declaration of war,” before demanding she be called off.

The Director (Anjelica Huston) offers to “send someone to solve the problem.” At which point John Wick is revealed, stepping off a train. And if that weren’t enough information, we then see him confront Eve, and tell her that she can leave, or die.

Lionsgate

“I’m not leaving,” says Eve. “Your choice,” is the response from John, and battle between the pair ensues, which could have been a surprise for fans but instead is something that the audience will now be expecting.

Aside from that miss-step, however, the trailer looks great, with moody visuals, some brutal kills in line with the best of the John Wick movies, and Ana de Armas kicking all kinds of ass as Eve.

Ballerina is in cinemas from June 6, 2025, while you can head here for our list of the best action movies ever, or here for our ranking of the John Wick movies.