It’s about time that we check in with Sofia Al-Azwar.
THE BIG PICTURE
Sofia Al-Azwar is one of the best characters in the John Wick franchise, capable of protecting herself from the High Table’s assassins.
Sofia’s intriguing backstory hints at a possible past relationship with John Wick before his marriage.
A Sofia spinoff would work well, as her story is not yet wrapped up and her position as a leader could lead to interesting conflicts in the John Wick universe.
Although John Wick: Chapter 4 offered a fairly definitive conclusion to the story of Keanu Reeves’ titular hitman, the world of John Wick is rapidly expanding. It was clear from the first film that Wick himself is part of a larger network of spies, assassins, and killers that work under the High Table, and we’re now just getting to see some of those other stories told.
The Peacock original series The Continental: From The World of John Wick explores the early exploits of Wick’s mentor Winston Scott (Colin Woodell), and Len Wiseman’s upcoming spinoff film Ballerina will explore the adventures of the new heroine Rooney (Ana de Armas).
It’s exciting to see that the John Wick universe will go on, even if the main character has departed. Now that Wick has joined his wife in death, it’s about time that the films check in on Halle Berry’s Sofia Al-Azwar.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
John Wick is on the run after killing a member of the international assassins’ guild, and with a $14 million price tag on his head, he is the target of hit men and women everywhere.
Release Date: May 15, 2019
Director: Chad Stahelski
Cast: Keanu Reeves , Ian McShane , Jason Mantzoukas , Halle Berry , Anjelica Huston , Laurence Fishburne
Runtime: 143
Main Genre: Action
Writers: Derek Kolstad
Tagline: The Grace Period Is Over
Halle Berry’s Sofia Is One of the Best John Wick Characters
Sofia was introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum as an enigmatic “old friend” of John’s. Considering that John has only a few precious people that he deems to be “friends,” anyone that he’s willing to trust his life with is at least worthy of some attention.
John seeks assistance from Sofia when he is being hunted by the High Table after being excommunicated from the legion of assassins. It’s evident that he won’t be able to get any help from his old allies Winston (Ian McShane) and Charon (the late, great Lance Reddick), and that even the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) doesn’t have the skills to protect him.
This suggests that Sofia’s skills make her more than capable of dealing with the forces that the High Table is sending after them both.
John Wick’s backstory is shrouded in secrecy, which is part of the reason he’s so compelling; the few details learned about his upbringing suggest many adventures during his early days working under the High Table.
Sofia hints in her brief appearance that the two may have shared a few adventures together, as she owes him a favor for a debt. Whatever this mysterious incident was is unclear, but based on the few details that Sofia shares, it must have been wild. “Nothing’s just a conversation with you,” she quips. Could John and Sofia have had a relationship before he met the woman that he dedicated the rest of his life to?
Beyond any connection to John, Sofia more than proves herself as a warrior. She and John are able to protect themselves from a hoard of High Table assassins at the Casablanca Continental, and each utilize a loyal dog to help them take down their opponents.
It’s unclear if the animal training and expert martial arts skills that she and John share are part of a similar training regiment, or if they are skills that they developed together. Either way, it suggests a potentially interesting backstory for a prequel film.
If Reeves ever wanted to reprise his role without disrespecting the emotional ending of John Wick: Chapter 4, appearing in a spinoff focused on Sofia would be the perfect way to do so.
Halle Berry’s Story in the John Wick Universe Is Incomplete
Although Sofia saves John’s life in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, her story is not wrapped up completely. This means that should Berry want to reprise her role, a sequel could be set after the events of the core franchise.
The death of the High Table’s Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) suggests that the network of assassins is in flux, and that different hotel managers could be forced to go on the offensive. Since Sofia is already confirmed to be in a leadership position, it would be interesting to see her defend her homeland should war break out between the different factions.
The Casablanca Continental could also open up a different side of the John Wick universe that has yet to be shown in detail. One of the reasons that the subsequent films in the series have felt so fresh is their international locations, which draw in the influence of action films from different countries.
In John Wick: Chapter 4, the scenes in Japan feature martial arts action sequences reminiscent of Yojimbo and Seven Samurai. Similarly, the battles in Europe contain the same visual poetry of classics Playtime or Le Samourai.
A Sofia-led film set in Casablanca could draw in the influence of any great adventure film set in Morocco. How cool would it be to have a John Wick-adjacent film inspired by The Man Who Would Be King or Lawrence of Arabia?
Halle Berry Is a Franchise Scene Stealer
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum isn’t the first time that Berry stole the film away from a major action hero. She also popped up as the rival secret agent Jinx in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day.
Berry was so great in her limited appearance that MGM briefly considered developing a standalone Jinx franchise, but the potential James Bond spinoff saga ended due to the underwhelming critical and fictional performance of Die Another Day. Even if she was cheated out of a spinoff with Bond, Berry could more than make up for it with a Sofia series.
She clearly has the skills to be a great action star, but unfortunately, all the action sagas that she’s taken part in (aside from the Wick franchise) have ultimately failed. She wasn’t given the chance to prove what she could do in the worlds of X-Men and Kingsman.
While those sagas forced Berry to draw from inspiration in existing source material, the details about Sofia are largely left ambiguous. This means that a spinoff could allow Berry to add a personal touch to the character, and perhaps even take part in the project’s creative inception. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum gave Berry her best role in years, and hopefully it’s not the last time that she will ever be allowed to play Sofia. Give us a spinoff, you cowards!
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