Action movie posters tend to follow certain tropes, so well before John Wick 4 came out last week, we knew exactly what to expect from the posters. We'd have Keanu Reeves looking intense and anguished as the eponymous Wick as he saunters away from a scene of carnage with his gun pointed down by his side. Maybe throw in the Eiffel Tower in the background since the film visits Paris.
And indeed, there is a John Wick 4 poster doing the rounds that delivers exactly that. But the filmmakers also commissioned an 'artist series' comprising 12 much more unique and personal takes that really break the mould. Many of them are super creative, tapping into different aspects of the character and the story of the film (see our favourite poster designs for more inspiration).
Posters for John Wick 1, 2 and 3 didn't do much to innovate (Image credit: Lionsgate)
John Wick: Chapter 4 is showing at cinemas now, and to be fair, the main John Wick 4 poster is also a lot more original than previous efforts (see above). It even features a clever optical illusion. But what we're really excited about is this artist series that's been gradually emerging online.
Lionsgate has recruited Ed Fairburn, Orlando Arocena, Alice X Zhang, Flore Maquin, Ken Taylor, Matt Taylor, Oliver Barrett, Ruiz Burgos, Taj Francis, Xi Zu, Yann Couedor and Yoko Shimizu to each offer their personal take on the Wick franchise. And they're so good, it's hard to choose a favourite.
So many #JohnWick4 posters were unleashed this week. Which one is your favorite? pic.twitter.com/9o8iq1KW4MMarch 4, 2023
If we're pushed, I think I'd choose the poster by the British artist Ed Fairburn as my favourite. Hand illustrated in Fairburn's characteristic cartographic style, it's made to look like a vintage map of Metropolitan Paris in which the shading and colours seamlessly depict the face of everyone's favourite assassin. It makes a mature, sophisticated poster for an action franchise.
Ed Fairburn's John Wick 4 poster (Image credit: Lionsgate)
Fairburn's John Wick 4 poster also makes the importance of Paris all the more intriguing for those that haven't yet seen the film. The French capital isn't the only location: Wick is back in New York, Berlin and Osaka too, but highlighting Paris seems to set the stage for a showdown with the film's villain, Bill Skarsgård's Marquis de Gramont.
A lot of movie posters tend to look the same, but these creative designs show there's so much more that can be done to create something that not only a teenager would want on their wall. Here are the other posters in the John Wick 4 artist series that we've managed to find so far.
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Lionsgate recently commissioned me to draw Keanu Reeves for John Wick 4!Apparently Keanu Reeves was excited about the art campaign and flew in to see all the art in person. I was told he loved my drawing and helped pick it for the final posters, and now I feel unstoppable ✌️😭 pic.twitter.com/fuUF5KxrwFDecember 12, 2022
Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
