John Wick doesn’t strike most as a person who would seek forgiveness or absolution, and yet a recent photo from John Wick 3: Parabellum shows Keanu Reeves holding out a crucifix to an unseen recipient -- although, considering the circumstances, he may be seeking a different kind of sanctuary.

RELATED: John Wick: Parabellum Set Photo Teases Old Friends, New Enemies

In John Wick 2, the assassin who can’t seem to stay retired assassinated a member of the High Table, a secret assassin society, in the declared neutral zone known as the Continental. With a $14 million contract on his head and all familiar allies and resources stripped away, his struggle for survival will take him from New York to Morocco and back.

"I'm a big fan of Joseph Campbell's mythologies of the hero and what he would have defined as the theater of pain, or sometimes we call it ‘The Die Hard Conundrum’: we just like to beat the (stuffing) out of our heroes,” said director Chad Stahelski to USA Today.

RELATED: John Wick: Director Chad Stahelski Teases Franchise's Future

Along with putting John Wick through the wringer, Stahelski promises more details of the legendary hitman’s origins will be revealed in the movie, but one can only imagine how many bodies must drop in the process. “If you choose that kind of lifestyle, you're going to be pretty beat up," added Stahelski. “So we like John Wick to suffer and think Keanu loves for John Wick to suffer, too.”

Directed by Chad Stahelski, John Wick 3: Parabellum stars returning actors Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane and Laurence Fishburne. They are joined by newcomers Halle Berry, Anjelica Huston, Hiroyuki Sanada, Jason Mantzoukas, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Yayan Ruhian, Cecep Arif Rahman and Tiger Hu Chen. It is scheduled to open on May 17, 2019.