Halle Berry’s entry into the John Wick franchise was pure hustling on the actress’s part. She demanded the role from director Chad Stahelski and delivered a great performance as Sofia Al-Azwar, the manager of the Continental’s Casablanca branch. The character went out of her way to help John Wick and got into trouble with her former boss and the High Table. While Sofia’s fate remains undisclosed in the franchise, she was likely hunted and killed for her defiance.
The noticeable absence of Berry’s character in John Wick 4 sparked speculation among fans. Many surmised that Sofia might have met her end after the events of the previous film. Considering how the High Table went after Keanu Reeves’s character, it is plausible that Sofia, too, encountered a barrage of assassins sent to kill her.
Halle Berry’s Sofia Is Probably Dead After John Wick 3 And Here’s Why
Halle Berry’s Sofia Al-Azwar was a character that managed to impress many fans in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Berry trained intensely for her role and even executed all of her action scenes to match up to Keanu Reeves’s performance. In the third film, when John Wick was declared excommunicado and faced with assassins lining up to kill him, he came to Sofia, the Casablanca Continental manager, to help him find the Elder.
Sofia, who trusts no one other than her two Belgian Malinois, initially refuses to help him. While she has no bad blood with John, she fears that if she attempts anything against the High Table, her daughter who’s in hiding will be hunted by them. However, John uses the marker Sofia had given him years ago, making her obligated to help.
When John and Sofia meet her boss, Berrada, things go south, forcing Sofia to shoot her boss in the knees and the pair to fight and kill several of his henchmen. Sofia is last seen leaving John in the desert to find his way to the Elder. Sofia notably didn’t make a return in the fourth film, where all the major characters made their appearance.
Many fans speculated that Sofia was killed after the events of the third film. The High Table was using all of its resources to hunt down John Wick and all those who helped him. As she lacks the skills of the Baba Yaga, it is doubtful whether she could have held off the retaliation from Berrada’s men. Even if she escaped Berrada, enforcers sent by the High Table Adjudicator and later by The Marquis would have probably found her.
There is also the possibility that the character might have sacrificed herself to the High Table to protect her daughter. Throughout the third film, it became evident that she was highly secretive and protective of her daughter. If the franchise brings back Halle Berry’s character, they have got to do a lot of explaining around these possibilities.
The Official Explanation Of Halle Berry’s Absence In John Wick 4
In an interview with Comicbook.com, director Chad Stahelski opened up about the absence of Halle Berry and a few other familiar faces in the final film of the franchise. His official explanation was that he aimed to avoid franchise fatigue. He didn’t want to bring back established characters simply because other franchises were doing so, nor did he intend to recreate the winning formula for the film. Stahelski shared with Comicbook.com:
“There’s always talk about that. Look, I love Halle Berry. I’ve loved all of them. It’s just I felt this because there’s so many other franchises that do do that, it was more of a little bit of a challenge to myself. Can I come up with something new? I’m scared of bringing back someone to create or recreate a formula.”
The John Wick franchise is expanding beyond Keanu Reeves’s character, with projects like The Continental and Ballerina. Some fans are hopeful that Halle Berry’s character might receive a spinoff film, a possibility hinted at by Stahelski during the interview.
John Wick movies are now available for rent on AppleTV+.
