Nobody quite knew what to expect from John Wick when the trailers first popped up. It definitely had potential, but if we're being honest, Keanu Reeves-- breathtaking though he may be-- doesn't always make amazing movies. Needless to say, John Wick was fantastic, and it turned into one of the best trilogies in recent memory.
Just to be clear, this list isn't specifically about criticizing Keanu. He's no Daniel-Day Lewis, but he's a perfectly fine actor for the kinds of movies he makes. Some of the suggestions below are, in fact, to suggest better actors. But others are more for the actors themselves, and how they might have deserved/needed a John Wick-inspired career boost more than Keanu did. Finally, we included a few older actors on this list, since John Wick's screenwriter said he originally imagined an older actor to play the part-- with Paul Newman being who he specifically had in mind when he wrote it.
15 Bones Of Steel
While a relative unknown when he first took on the role of Wolverine, Hugh Jackman nailed it. With Jackman saying he's officially done with Wolverine/Logan, we fear that could mean the end of him playing action heroes, which is a shame. He could've been great playing the older, more grizzled John Wick that the original script intended, more in line with his performance in Logan.
14 Yippee Ki Yay
Bruce Willis seems completely bored with making movies these days, only occasionally showing glimpses that he still loves his craft and still wants to be a star. Perhaps John Wick would've been the kind of project to get him excited and giving it his all again, giving us back the Bruce Willis we've been missing for at least a decade.
13 Bruce Banner's Big Break
Mark Ruffalo's Hulk still hasn't gotten his own solo movie and likely never will, which has made Ruffalo feel like something of an MCU sidekick. The actor definitely deserves to headline his own big action movie, proving that he doesn't have to just let a CG version of himself do all the cool stuff.
12 The James Bond That Might Have Been
When it was announced that Pierce Brosnan's time as James Bond was over, it was initially assumed that the next Bond would be in line with previous ones. Clive Owen was frequently mentioned, and he would've been a great traditional Bond. Stepping into the role of John Wick to run parallel to Craig's gritty take on Bond would've been a fun rivalry to watch.
11 The James Bond That Almost Wasn't
Following on from the previous entry, let's say the producers of the Bond franchise had maintained the status quo and went with a more by-the-numbers portrayal for the post-Brosnan era. That would've left Daniel Craig with no place to showcase his skills at playing a ruthless-but-cool action hero-- making him available to star in John Wick, which he would've been awesome at.
10 Snake's Revenge
Getting back to candidates for the plan to have a much older John Wick, Kurt Russell has been dipping his toe into action movies in recent years, proving he still loves the genre. It's impossible to know for sure if he has the physical chops for it, but we'd like to think some of that Snake Plissken energy still lives inside Russell just waiting to be reawakened.
9 He'll Always Be Back
One of the big moments from the trailers for John Wick was Keanu Reeves delivering the line, "Yeah, I'm thinking I'm back!" Sound familiar? If anyone is perfect for a movie about someone being "back" to kick some butt, it's Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has spent his post-governor life trying to rebuild his action movie career. John Wick would've done exactly that for the aging, but still very capable, icon.
8 High Voltage
For a few years there, Jason Statham was primed to be Hollywood's next #1 action star with movies like The Transporter and the goofy-but-secretly-brilliant Crank. While he has stayed steadily working and still has the chops, he has failed to really find that big, consistently good headlining franchise. John Wick could've easily been for him what The Transporter should've been before the latter fell apart with disappointing sequels.
7 He's So Fine
Mickey Rourke's relationship with Hollywood has been...complicated, to say the least. Every time he seems poised to make a permanent comeback with a well-received performance, he squanders it with bad choices (both professional and personal). Assuming he would've been able to handle the fame and accolades it brought, perhaps John Wick could've been the project that finally brought him back for good.
6 Back To Life
What does Andrew Lincoln's career look like post-The Walking Dead? Is he going to go back to making movies like Love, Actually? We sure hope not-- we'd love to see him embrace more action roles, and show us what he can really do. Not only could he have made a great John Wick, but it would've been a great stepping stone back to movie stardom after a small-screen detour.
