Marko Zaror will appear in the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4, and Zaror’s franchise-changing antagonist role is set to continue his trend of playing strong villains. The road from John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum to John Wick 4 has been an unexpectedly long one, with the movie originally set to hit theaters on May 27, 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic and Keanu Reeves’ subsequent scheduling conflict with The Matrix Resurrections would lead to John Wick 4 eventually being pushed back to March 23, 2023.
Despite the prolonged wait, John Wick 4‘s anticipation hasn’t been dampened at all. With John and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) teaming up, John Wick 4 will also bring aboard Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Scott Adkins, and Zaror. Most of the details of the quartet’s roles remain unrevealed in John Wick 4‘s story of John and the Bowery King going up against the ruling body of the High Table. Despite that, Zaror’s presence in John Wick 4 as an assassin in pursuit of John Wick will bring his talent for playing villains to the biggest audience ever.
Zaror has played his share of heroic characters in his career, as seen in movies like Kiltro, Mirageman, and Redeemer. He’s also frequently portrayed villains and antagonists in films like Undisputed 3: Redemption, Machete Kills, Sultan, and Savage Dog. The latter have been some of Zaror’s most impactful and beloved performances. In particular, his portrayal of the nefarious Dolor in Undisputed 3 opposite Scott Adkins is perhaps his best-known role. While Zaror has been captivating in heroic roles, his villainous performances have still been some of his most entertaining. Zaror’s villains not only are formidable fighters themselves, but Zaror knows how to inject the right amount of antagonistic narcissism to make them that much more animated. As a martial artist coming into the martial arts-heavy John Wick franchise, Zaror is also both highly versatile and agile in a way that’s in total defiance of his build. All of those puzzle pieces make any Marko Zaror villain consistently memorable.
With Adkins’ Yuri Boyka going from the villain of Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing to anti-hero in Undisputed 3, Zaror’s Dolor showed no shades of grey. Dolor absolutely relished not just defeating but humiliating his opponents, taunting Boyka as “the champion of the toilets“. Far from just a physical challenge, Dolor was determined to get under Boyka’s skin in the final fight of Undisputed 3 in order to drive him mad (which made his eventual defeat all the more satisfying for viewers).
That isn’t to discount Zaror in heroic roles. With his slender but large frame, Zaror’s heroes often contrast his imposing physical presence with soft-spoken, understated dialogue as men of few words. Still, even some of Zaror’s heroes hew darker or have violent pasts. This is especially true of his protagonist Nicky Pardo in Redeemer, a former cartel enforcer turned vigilante using his once merciless tactics against the criminal world.
John Wick 4‘s exploration of the John Wick universe sadly still has a year’s wait time ahead of it. Still, with Yen (reportedly playing a friend of John’s), Sanada, Adkins, and Zaror joining the Continental, the disappointment of action fans is strictly one of rescheduling. As a bonus to that, Zaror’s predilection for very engaging villains will give John Wick: Chapter 4 an added jolt of electricity.
Key Release Dates
- John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)Release date: Mar 24, 2023
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