Ballerina Final Preview Hints at Franchise-Level Carnage

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina’s new trailer, if one were in need of further proof, is as intoxicating, inventive, and unrelentingly bloody as the already-grim-but-beautiful universe of “Hitmen with Heart” could possibly be.

Shot through with the gunplay, martial arts, and balletic grace of its parent series, the Ana de Armas-led Ballerina will arrive in theaters just three weeks from today, June 6, 2025. Ahead of its premiere, Lionsgate has released one final trailer that does an excellent job of hitting all the beats — both new and familiar — its fans will be looking for.

Covering roughly the same timeframe as John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Ballerina’s story is set following the latter film’s events. In Parabellum, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) was forced to flee the New York City that had become his temporary safe haven, after killing mob boss Santino D’Antonio in the courtyard of the Continental Hotel and, by extension, being declared “excommunicado” by the High Table and given a multi-million-dollar bounty on his head.

Heeding a message from fellow bounty hunter Extreme Hire (Mujib Amin-) delivered by Viggo (Damon Herriman), Wick took to the streets in search of help, ultimately arriving at the headquarters of the Ruska Roma crime organization.

Led by the formidable and frequently enigmatic Director (Anjelica Huston), the Ruska Roma was, by all accounts, a haven for Wick, providing both sanctuary and an excellent opportunity to refine his fighting skills as a form of brutal dance practice. As revealed in a brief moment during Parabellum, its members were ballerina-assassins, not merely dancers. Eve Macarro, played by Unity Phelan, was among them.

Following the success of the fourth installment in the franchise, Ballerina focuses on that ballerina’s story, with Ana de Armas in the titular role. The spin-off will reunite her with several other faces from the original John Wick films, most of them having reprised their roles at this point: Anjelica Huston as the Director, Ian McShane as Winston (manager of the Continental Hotel), and, in a posthumous release, Lance Reddick as Charon (the Continental’s concierge).

Gabriel Byrne (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street), Norman Reedus (Invincible), Catalina Sandino Moreno (Suicide Squad), and David Castañeda (Trapped) also join the cast.

From a preview with a focus on a protagonist with a very particular vendetta

The first trailer for From the World of John Wick: Ballerina came in September of 2024 and, focusing on Eve’s past, her origins, and her motivation, gave fans a firm grasp on what to expect from the film. A promising opening image of Ana de Armas swinging her legs in a short skirt as she made her way along a tree-lined path, the video went on to cover some major ground, giving fans a look at a personal revenge fantasy both timely and emotionally driven.

Less familiar characters made cameos, like a small role from cast newcomer Gabriel Byrne, but John Wick was a mystery, his role only hinted at by a single shot of Keanu Reeves from a previous installment in the franchise and an expletive-filled line left mostly unexplained.

Another bit of dialogue, on the other hand, seemed to directly answer fans’ questions: “This isn’t done until they’re dead.” As she spoke, Ana de Armas was leaping through the air and trading blows in every inch of the frame, which, combined with old footage of Keanu Reeves training with fans in St. Basil’s Square, might as well have been a mission statement for the franchise at large, or at least its third phase.

Metaphorically speaking, the second trailer doubled down on fans’ expectations, arriving in March of 2025 and delivering, while holding back most of the major plot points, a fan-servicey glimpse at what was to come, using intense visual vibes in a snow-covered environment as a background for the first — much anticipated and long overdue — meeting between Ana de Armas and Reeves’ John Wick.

The third trailer opens with Reeves’ sniper scope pinned on de Armas, her entire body screaming out in terror as she looks up at an unseen target or threat. The second we hit the quickening pace, the trailer cuts back and forth between newly released footage and stills from prior previews, with de Armas covered in blood, swinging, and jumping through the air in what might charitably be described as a single fighting sequence.

Ana de Armas makes a true solo effort of it all, flinging herself into the fray with her bare hands or some form of bladed weapon, slicing her way out of a situation while her target, also covered in blood, pulls back into the shadows. As her character says in the voiceover, “Hitmen without hearts, that’s what I grew up with. And that’s what I’m gonna put an end to.”

All of that’s familiar — classic Wick, and, by extension, classic Matrix. It’s to be expected. There’s little doubt that the franchise has found its new signature. It’s agile, balletic, and purposefully silly, so balls-to-the-wall ballistic that characters spinning through the air in slow-motion seem like a meme come to life rather than a gory, prolonged killing fantasy.