John Wick 4 director Chad Stahelski has hinted that the new film may feature deleted scenes initially set for the franchise’s third film, Parabellum.

The fourth film in the series is set to be released in 2022, a year later than planned, having been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

• Read more: ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’ review — a brutal, blood-soaked sequel

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stahelski discussed what may happen in the upcoming fourth film, in particular regarding a number of deleted scenes that he chose to not to include in the franchise’s third installment, Parabellum.

“There’s a couple things,” he said. “We had a couple of overlapping thematics, and I stripped it down to the bare essentials. And there were two action sequences that we had really kind of conceived, but we just didn’t have room for them.

“So, we pulled them from the movie. And I’d like to think that 90 per cent of what I pulled, there’s a place in John Wick 4 that I can definitely reinsert them.”

John Wick 4 was originally set to come out on May 21, 2021, the same day that Keanu Reeves also returns in The Matrix 4.

News of the delay debunked a fan theory that the film could crossover with The Matrix 4, with many expecting the two films to feature links and be released on the same day.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that the John Wick franchise was originally set to be titled Scorn, but producers were forced to change the title of the first film after Keanu Reeves kept calling the film the wrong name, referring to it as John Wick so many times that the team agreed to just give the film that name.

Reviewing John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum upon its release, NME wrote: “Exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure, the third chapter in this bonkers franchise is undoubtedly its best. But how long can a 54-year-old actor continue to put his body through the wringer in such a physically-demanding role?

“Time to get cracking on chapter 4, we think. Tick-tock, Mr Wick.”