The following contains spoilers for Boy Kills World, now playing in theater

Boy Kills World features a great showcase for Yayan Ruhian, with a far more impressive showcase of his skills than seen in the John Wick franchise. After being cast as Eric in Gareth Evans’ Merantau, he became a welcome addition to several movies and franchises, including Star Wars and John Wick. However, Boy Kills World is one of the best uses of the performer yet, with a late-film twist in Boy Kills World‘s ending setting up an impressive showcase of Ruhian’s fighting skills.

As the otherwise unnamed Shaman, Ruhian is initially presented as a classic trickster mentor for Bill Skarsgård’s Boy. However, revelations late in the film paint him in a completely different light, giving Ruhian a far more interesting character who can also still carry a lengthy and brutal fight scene. It’s the kind of big showcase Ruhian deserved in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, which used the performer well but not to the fullness of his ability.

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Bill Skarsgård’s New Action Movie Makes His John Wick 4 Role A Huge Disappointment

Boy Kills World’s action-packed premise suggests that John Wick: Chapter 4 could have upped the ante with Bill Skargård’s villain role.

Yayan Ruhian Gets A Much Bigger Role In Boy Kills World Than John Wick 3

Boy Kills World Gives Ruhian A Great Villainous Showcase

In Boy Kills World, Yayan Ruhian ends up being a far more important character than he was John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, deservedly getting a great spotlight in the film. Initially, Ruhian’s Shaman seems to follow the basic mentor archetype. Taking in the Boy and training him, the Shaman is largely absent from most of the film’s second act. The ending of Boy Kills World reveals the Shaman was responsible for deafening the Boy and rendering him mute. After losing his family to Hilda Van Der Koys, he kidnaped her son and turned him into a tool for vengeance.

In John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Ruhian is one of the Shinobi warriors who works for Zero. His fight scene with Wick alongside Cecep Arif Rahman’s other Shinobi is exciting and well-constructed, but there’s little else to the character. By contrast, Boy Kills World turns Ruhian’s Shaman into a surprisingly effective third-act twist. His tragic origins and brutal actions make him a unique villain, building to the film’s climactic duel. It’s overall a very solid performance from Ruhian, and something other films have failed to properly show off.

Boy Kills World Makes A Yayan Ruhian Mistake John Wick 3 Didn’t

Yayan Ruhian Would Need A Different Role In A Prospective Boy Kills World Sequel

While Yayan Ruhian gets a more complex character amidst all the wild action of Boy Kills World, his death at the hands of the Boy and June-27 means the Shaman couldn’t return for any potential sequel to the film. While his influence on the Boy may linger, the Shaman won’t get another shot at wiping out the entire Van Der Koy family. Despite being one of several killers who attempt to bring down John Wick in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, his honorable approach to combat alongside his fellow shinobi results in Wick sparing their lives.

In the aftermath of John Wick 4: Chapter 4, there could be a power vacuum in the world of the High Council. That could easily allow the Shinobi to return for the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 5, especially in light of the death of their former leader, Zero. The Shaman wasn’t so lucky. However, a potential Boy Kills World could simply do what The Raid 2 did and recast Ruhian in a different role. The Shaman was an impressive showcase for a Yayan Ruhian, bringing a lot to Boy Kills World.

Boy Kills World

Boy Kills World is an action thriller film by director Moritz Mohr, released in 2024. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, a young man simply known as “Boy” lives through terrible trauma after his family is killed by a woman named Hilda Van Der Koy, who currently rules the land. Now older and more bloodthirsty than ever, Boy heads into the fray to claim revenge while liberating the world from her tyrannical grasp.

Director

Moritz Mohr

Writers

Tyler Burton Smith , Arend Remmers , Moritz Mohr

Cast

Bill Skarsgard , Famke Janssen , Jessica Rothe , Michelle Dockery , Brett Gelman , Isaiah Mustafa , Yayan Ruhian , Nicholas Crovetti