Keanu Reeves pitched ideas for John Wick's death after just two instalments of the film franchise.

The 59-year-old actor has played the former hitman in four 'John Wick' movies - but he's been thinking about his possible exit for years.

Basil Iwanyk, who has served as a producer on the franchise, told Screen Rant: "These movies are ... it beats the crap out of Keanu, right? Physically. In ways that I don't think people can ever understand because it's not just a shoot.

"He's training three, four, five months before. And in every part of it, it's a little bit of the Danny Glover in 'Lethal Weapon', like, 'I'm getting too old for this s***.' And on every movie he's like, 'This is when I die. I'm done.'

"We always shoot options. We shoot one that he's completely alive, one that is a little vague, and one that he's dead. You know what I mean?"

Keanu even proposed a particularly gruesome death for his on-screen character at one point in time. However, the producers rejected the idea out of hand.

Basil shared: "I remember, I think it was on 'John Wick 2', he was like, 'Here's what happens. They cut my head off. They cut my head off.' And I'm just like, 'There's no chance you're getting your head cut off.'"

Earlier this year, Keanu suggested that he could revive the character one more time.

Asked if John Wick could make a comeback, Keanu told Entertainment Weekly: "I don't know, I guess I'm going to have to lean on never say never.

"I mean, I wouldn't do a John Wick film without Chad Stahelski. We'd have to see what that looked like. For me, it feels really right that John Wick finds peace."