Movies

A ‘John Wick’ and ‘Atomic Blonde’ Crossover? Charlize Theron Weighs in on the Possibility

Charlize Theron shares whether she's open to combining her 'Atomic Blonde' character and the 'John Wick' series in an epic action crossover.

by Robert Yaniz Jr.

Published on July 15, 2020

3 min read

Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves have starred in two movies together

If an Atomic Blonde and John Wick cross-over were to happen, it wouldn’t be the first time Theron shared the screen with Keanu Reeves. The pair starred opposite Al Pacino in the 1997 supernatural thriller The Devil’s Advocate. Then they reunited in 2001 for romantic drama Sweet November. However, as far as fans know, Theron and Reeves never dated.

Reeves and Theron have famously remained friends over the years. And they even trained for John Wick: Chapter 2 and Atomic Blonde, respectively, at the same time. In the lead-up to those two productions, the actors would even serve as each other’s off-screen sparring partners. So it’s not much of a stretch to imagine a big-screen action team-up.

Their current action series share common roots behind the scenes

There’s a good reason why John Wick and Atomic Blonde feel like they take place in the same universe. The movies aren’t canonically connected (as least not yet). But they share behind-the-scenes DNA. After all, Atomic Blonde director David Leitch was an uncredited co-director on John Wick.

When Leitch left the franchise to do Atomic Blonde, Chad Stahelski took over directing duties on the John Wick sequels by himself. Leitch went on to follow Theron’s Atomic Blonde with Deadpool 2 and Hobbs & Shaw. Now he and Theron are developing a sequel for release on Netflix sometime soon.

Now Theron has spoken up about rumors of a cross-over with Reeves

With Theron’s The Old Guard now streaming on Netflix, the actor recently fielded questions about the potential for an Atomic Blonde cross-over with John Wick. The Hollywood Reporter tried to get an update about the rumored project, and Theron was more than happy to set the record straight.

Listen, as soon as I get the call, I’ll be there. They just have to tell me where, when and I’ll show up. Keanu is one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world; I absolutely love him. I respect him, I admire him and I am so grateful that I got to make two movies with him.

We both kind of find ourselves in this new stage of our career, and so much of Atomic Blonde was influenced by John Wick. So, if we can get those two characters to meet up in a timeline that makes sense, I’m all about it.

As Theron alludes, the real trouble is getting the timeline to line up. Atomic Blonde is pointedly set in the late 1980s. Meanwhile, the John Wick franchise is very much set in the mid-to-late 2010s. Thankfully, both Theron and Reeves appear relatively ageless. So that wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Perhaps Leitch and Stahelski could hatch a story that takes place in the early 2000s. This would split the difference between the 1989 setting of Atomic Blonde and 2014’s John Wick. Fans of both franchises are certainly hoping it’ll happen. Only time will tell if Theron and Reeves will get the chance to reunite on screen, however.