John Wick is an American neo-noir action thriller media franchise created by Derek Kolstad and centered around John Wick, a former hitman who is forced back into the criminal underworld he had previously abandoned.
John was born Jardani Jovonovich (Russian: Джордани Йованович, Belarusian: Ярдані Яванавіч) in Padhorje, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union on September 2, 1964. He was orphaned at a young age before being taken in by an old friend of his father, who would eventually become John's mentor.
Who is John Wick's mentor?
Marcus (portrayed by Willem Dafoe in John Wick: Ch 1). He is an old guard who became an assassin. He is battle hardened man who is reliable and one of the Elites. Marcus is a high class assassin who is John's best friend. He was also a mentor to John. Marcus is a father figure to John and to other hitmen. He is skilled with a sniper rifle, meaning Marcus was a sniper in his past life. Marcus is a skilled fighter as well. This is seen when he is fighting Viggio's henchmen.
How did John Wick earn the moniker "Baba Yaga?"
Years after leaving the Ruska Roma, John became a professional assassin who earned the nickname Baba Yaga ("The Boogeyman" in Russian) for his unparalleled hyper-lethality. Viggo described this in John Wick (2014) when points out to his son Iosef that John isn't so much the Boogeyman as "the one you sent to kill the boogeyman," establishing both John's frightening reputation as well as reminding viewers that he's ultimately supposed to be the hero of the story.
In this third installment of the adrenaline-fueled action franchise, skilled assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) 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.