Marcus

*"You made a new life, you'll find a way to back to it. It's time to go home."*
—Marcus to John Wick[src]
**Marcus** was a highly skilled assassin, an expert sniper, a close friend and a mentor to the ex-hitman John Wick. He was eventually paid by Russian crime boss Viggo Tarasov to turn on John and kill him, but eventually decided not to and turned on Viggo.

## History

### Background

Marcus was an old guard who became a high-class assassin. He was a reliable, battle hardened man and one of the elites who served a mentor to John Wick and other hitmen.

### Events of *John Wick*

*"There's no rhyme or reason to this life. It's days like today scattered among the rest."*
—Marcus to John Wick[src]
Marcus was first seen talking to John after the death of his wife, Helen Wick at the funeral, giving John good advice. Although not much is known about Marcus' past and his history with John, it is likely Marcus was still friends with John and was also friends with Helen after leaving his life of a hitman since he was at Helen's funeral.

Marcus appears again when Viggo Tarasov decided to hire him to kill John. The assassin takes the job making Viggo believe he is going to kill John but eventually took the job to help John. After Viggo left, Marcus opened up a secret room with all his guns in it. Armed with his sniper rifle, he appeared again while John was resting in the Continental Hotel after his fight with Viggo's men. He is on the roof of a building across the street and has a perfect shot to kill John, but he doesn't. Marcus then saw Ms. Perkins coming to John's room to kill him and fired a warning shot to hit John's bed to let him know about Ms. Perkins trying to kill him. Marcus appeared again later when Viggo and his men captured John and tried to kill him. Marcus shot the men who subdued John, allowing John to free himself.

After John finally killed Viggo's son Iosef, he and Marcus met up one last time. John thanked Marcus for helping him, but unbeknownst to both of them, Ms. Perkins was spying on them and reported to Viggo about Marcus' betrayal. On his way back home, Viggo had his men waiting next to Marcus' apartment, although Marcus knew he was being followed.

*"Let's get on with this, whatever the fuck this is."*
—Marcus to Viggo's mobsters

He was eventually taken captive by Viggo, who surprised him when he was walking in the middle of a street. Viggo called John and ironically states that he appreciates how he granted his son a swift death, and continued by saying that Marcus betrayed him for not fulfilling the contract, leaving him with no choice. Viggo blamed Marcus for Iosef's death, saying "You had every opportunity to kill John Wick, and if you had done your job my son would be still alive!". Ms. Perkins soon showed up, not to Marcus' surprise. Viggo taunted Marcus by saying he always liked him and noted that he was the last of the old guard. He continued by saying that unlike the others, Marcus would die his way, to which Marcus replied "No my good sir. I go out on my own." He was able to jump up and kill two bodyguards before being shot twice by Perkins. Viggo grabbed his pistol and before killing him, Marcus mocked him by saying "See?". He was then shot six times by Viggo, who later replies to a dead Marcus "Well played old friend."

## Personality

*"What are you really doing here, Marcus?"
"Just checkin' up on an old friend."*
—John Wick and Marcus[src]
A skilled sniper, Marcus represents an older generation of Continental members. Part mentor, part mystery, Marcus has John’s back. Marcus was an extremely loyal friend to John Wick, as he only accepted Viggo Tarasov's contract to protect Wick from other assassins such as Ms. Perkins.

## Abilities

*"How many times do I have to save your ass?"*
—Marcus to John Wick[src]

* **Expert Marksman**: Marcus was highly skilled in using a sniper rifle, saving John Wick several times by using one.
* **Skilled Combatant**: Marcus had moderate skill in fighting, as he's seen elbowing one of Viggo's guards then grabbed the other by the neck, killing both of them with a pistol.

## Equipment

### Weapons

* **Browning Hi Power**: Marcus' pistol was confiscated by Viggo Tarasov's men.
* **Glock 19**: Marcus took a pistol from one of Viggo Tarasov's men and used it to kill another one of his men.
* **Ruger M77**: Marcus' primary weapon was a take-down model sniper rifle chambered in .30-06 Springfield and fitted with a synthetic Zytel stock, suppressor, and bipod. He used it to shoot a pillow in John Wick's room in the Continental Hotel, alerting him to the presence of Ms. Perkins. He later used it to shoot a man in the head who was choking John with a plastic bag.

In the arsenal hidden under his stairs, Marcus had a MAC-11, an IMI Uzi, an Olympic Arms K23B, a bolt-action rifle, four Beretta 92 variants, a Springfield Armory XDM, two Glock 17s, a 1911 variant and another handgun.

## Trivia

* Marcus is a minor yet pivotal protagonist of the *John Wick* film series.
* About the character of Marcus, actor Willem Dafoe said, "Marcus is an assassin on a very high level. It's clear that he and [John] have a history, and he's something of a mentor to him. They’re friends, but it's a friendship that was made in a very dark world." Of Marcus's psychology, he also added that "He seems pragmatic; he seems fatalistic, which you would have to be in that line of work." Writer Kolstad stated, "Marcus is a father figure. But he’s a father in the sense that he’s the king of the pride. When a new lion takes over a pride, he slaughters all the cubs. Marcus is that guy."
* Marcus was seen making a vegetable juice in his house. As a sniper, carrots are one of the vegetables that were included and the fact that they are good for eyesight.