Exploring Jason Statham’s Past and Final Choice: Explaining the End of Man’s Wrath.
WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Wrath of Man.
Summary
- H seeks revenge with precision in Wrath of Man’s gripping tale of justice and redemption, leaving no stone unturned.
- Statham’s H embodies power and resilience, avenging his son’s death with a calculated, eye-for-an-eye strategy.
- The film sets the stage for a potential sequel, showcasing Mason’s complex character and the criminal underworld he navigates.
The ending of Guy Ritchie’s 2021 heist thriller Wrath of Man sees Jason Statham’s H finding absolution. Statham, the beloved leading man and action star known for his iconic works such as Crank (2006), Spy (2015), The Meg (2018), and the recent sleeper hit The Beekeeper, is in top form in Wrath of Man, a gripping story of revenge and greed. Wrath of Man’s cast also features Josh Hartnett (Oppenheimer, Lucky Number Slevin), Holt McCallany (Mindhunter, Fight Club), and Scott Eastwood (The Fate of the Furious, Pacific Rim: Uprising) as the main antagonist Jan.
Wrath of Man was the fourth feature film collaboration between Ritchie and Statham before their fifth movie together, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, which also stars Josh Hartnett, was released in 2023. After joining the armored cash truck service Fortico at the beginning of the film, Statham’s H protagonist turns out to be a former heist man himself whose son, Dougie (Eli Brown), is killed by an elite group of army veterans turned cash truck robbers. Throughout Wrath of Man’s four chapters, A Dark Spirit, Scorched Earth, Bad Animals, Bad, and Liver, Lungs, Spleen & Heart, H uncovers who was behind the death of his son and makes them pay.
H Kills Jan The Same Way His Son Died
In the final moments of Wrath of Man, Jan is the sole survivor of the massive heist operation at the Fortico depot on Black Friday. Even Holt McCallany’s Bullet character, who was revealed to be the Fortico inside man that H had been looking for, ended up being betrayed by Jan at the last second. Bullet shot H at the depot before escaping with Jan and Jackson (Jeffrey Donovan) to the parking garage with the secret access tunnels. Ultimately, Jan kills Jackson, Bullet, and drives away with millions in an unsuspecting Prius. He believes he’s gotten away with it all until he finds H sitting in his condo waiting to send him a final message.
H throws the coroner’s report of his son, Dougie, and has Jan read it aloud. The report explains the exact modes of death that Jan’s bullets caused to Dougie’s body, starting with his punctured liver, his collapsed lungs, his ruptured spleen, and a fatal shot through the heart. H wastes no time in replicating Dougie’s method of death on Jan, shooting him in each of the four aforementioned vital organs in the same order that Jan had shot and killed Dougie. H emphasized a true “eye for an eye” strategy for revenge and justice on Jan and walked out of his condo without taking a cent of the stolen money.
H’s Real Name & Mission Explained
H is the nickname that Bullet gives to Statham’s character when he first starts working at Fortico under the guise of Patrick Hill, a former security guard. H’s real identity is Mason Hargreaves, a notorious crime lord who is greatly revered. This is why during the second heist on a Fortico truck when H took his mask off, the robbers were too afraid to shoot him and ran away. Mason Hargreaves proves himself to be incredibly powerful and resourceful, which is hinted at during a brief interrogation of his Fortico coworker Dana (Niamh Algar). Mason and his loyal crew, led by Mike (Darrell D’Silva, tried to torture and interrogate other crime lords to no avail, which is what inspired Mason to go undercover at Fortico as H.
Every Character Death In Wrath Of Man’s Ending Explained
Just about every major character in Wrath of Man wound up dead by the end of the movie. H became the true last man standing after killing Jan but was not interested in taking the prize money whatsoever. Leading up to the classic shoot ’em up ending, H’s Fortico coworkers, Shirley, Dana, Stuart, and Boy Sweat Dave (Hartnett) are all killed by Jackson’s team of Jan, Bullet, and the others. Bullet coldly asked Stuart for a gun, making him think he was still his ally, before shooting him and Dana point blank. He killed Boy Sweat Dave in a similar fashion before shooting H, but not killing him. Jackson, Bullet, and Jan were the only thieves to get away before Jan killed both Jackson and Bullet and took off with the money.
How Wrath Of Man’s Ending Sets Up A Sequel
Jason Statham’s H takes no prisoners at the end of Wrath of Man, sending everyone who was involved in Dougie’s death, particularly Jan, to an early grave. While it’s unlikely that H, or Mason Hargreaves, will need to continue working as a Fortico agent in a potential Wrath of Man sequel, Mason is still one of the most powerful crime lords in the world at the end of the film. He has also made quite a few enemies on his path to uncovering who killed his son, which would set up some future retaliations from his new rivals. Although Mason is likely done with Fortico and armored trucks, there is an entire criminal underworld of possibilities that could expand his true character.
The Real Meaning Of Wrath Of Man’s Ending
Wrath of Man’s ending offers the completion of a classic revenge tale of father and son while also revealing just how powerful Statham’s Mason character is. Mason kept true to his original claim that he had no interest in money and was only seeking to avenge Dougie and pulled it off with careful planning and death-defying resilience despite getting shot several times. Mason, or H, became a dark spirit after losing his son, having nothing else to live for but to make Jan and his crew pay for taking away the most important thing in his life. By killing Jan the same way that he killed Dougie, Mason is able to level the playing field as much as possible.
Now that Mason’s elaborate revenge plan is complete, it’s unclear what exactly he will make of his life. His relationship with his ex-wife and mother of Dougie is irreparably strained and Mason may have a hard time finding purpose or enjoyment in anything for the rest of his life. In a potential Wrath of Man 2, Mason would likely have to lose someone else who is close to him in order to fit in with the first movie’s themes of revenge. It’s possible that someone who was above Jackson, or a close friend of Jan’s, could come after Mason in a Wrath of Man sequel and all the criminals he disrupted in the first movie could be coming back with a vengeance of their own.