Havoc ending explained: What happens to Tom Hardy's Walker in the end?

Tom Hardy's return as a brooding detective has been the talk of the town. He portrays a homicide detective who works for a real estate tycoon and is also the mayor. When the mayor's son gets into trouble, Walker comes into the picture as he gets the responsibility of hunting him down and protecting him. However, in exchange, Walker asks for freedom as he wants to leave this life behind.

In true Gareth Evans style, the film follows through with tough action scenes and a lot of violence. In its beginning, Havoc immediately positions itself as another film about a cop with moral dilemmas, a tough guy troubled by his conscience and saved by his family's love and/or some heroic deed at the last second. As for Hardy, he shines as the brooding detective with a cursed fate who quite literally doesn't have a way out from what his fate holds for him.

However, the gritty police genre has been redefined by Evans by the time Havoc reaches its ludicrous end, burying all pretenses of nobility beneath mountains of bullet casings and lakes of blood. Here's what happens at the end of Havoc, and the fate that awaits Walker at the end.

What is Havoc about?

Still from Havoc (Image via Youtube @/Netflix)

A group of thieves—Charlie, Mia, Johnny, and Wes—steal a batch of washing machines that unknowingly contain hidden cocaine. They’re pursued by a narcotics squad led by Vincent, Hayes, Jake, and Cortez, but the chase ends with Cortez seriously injured. Charlie and Mia take the stolen cocaine to Tsui, a local Triad boss, with Mia having previously worked for him after stealing his car. But things take a deadly turn when a gang, in league with Tsui's lieutenant Ching, bursts in, killing Tsui and his men. Charlie and Mia narrowly escape.

Patrick Walker, a homicide detective estranged from his family, is hired by his father, Lawrence Beaumont, a real estate tycoon and mayoral candidate, to find Charlie and protect him after he’s accused of Tsui’s murder. Walker begins investigating with his rookie partner, Ellie. He also visits Cortez at the hospital, who reveals that Vincent and his crew were actually after the cocaine to hijack it for their own gain. As Walker digs deeper, Tsui’s mother—known as "Mother"—arrives in town and kidnaps Lawrence, demanding answers about her son's death.

Walker tracks down Mia's uncle Raul, who is forging passports for Charlie and Mia to escape. However, a bloody shootout erupts when Vincent, the Triads, and other enemies converge at a nightclub. In the chaos, many are killed, but Walker barely escapes with Mia and a wounded Charlie. Walker realizes Vincent, in league with Ching, was seeking to profit from the cocaine deal, leading to Tsui's death. Ching, who plotted the murder due to jealousy over his promotion, murdered Cortez and his wife.

Walker takes Charlie and Mia to his father’s cabin for safety, but the Triads track them down, and a fierce gun battle ensues.

What happens to Walker at the end of Havoc?

The ending of Havoc is simple and requires less explanation, but it's still crucial to understand Walker's fate in the end as he attempts to protect everyone around him. After many are killed, Mother arrives, still believing Charlie killed Tsui, and forces Lawrence to play Russian Roulette with Mia. Ellie captures Vincent, Jake, and Ching, exposing their involvement in the plot. A final violent showdown leads to Ching’s death, Vincent’s escape, and a dramatic confrontation between him and Walker, where Vincent is killed. With the police closing in, Ellie lets Charlie and Mia go, leaving Walker’s fate uncertain as he faces the consequences of his actions.

The final scene sees him sitting beside Ellie, as they both are kind of anticipating the police cars to come and give Walker the fate he deserves.

“You’re a good cop, Ellie,” he tells her. “I probably should have been nicer to you.” As his words sink in, the flashing lights of approaching police cars start to fill the scene, signaling the arrival of law enforcement to restore order. Their lights cast a glow over Ellie and Walker in these final moments.

He asks Ellie to arrest him. She hesitates after she sees this new side of him. In the end, Walker's fate is left off-screen as the ambiguous end closes up on his defeat. Most probably, he turns himself in, or Ellie turns him in, as we know the police cars are on their way.

Red and blue lights spotlight Walker's face as the film ends. These moments emphasize Havoc's contribution to the canon of gritty cop films, especially when paired with all the nastiness that came before it. Walker is not a crooked representative of a respectable organization. He is the face of a corrupt and brutal system that even a "good cop" like Ellie cannot reform. Havoc lives in a world few police dramas would venture into, and the chaos in the film is a normal part of that world. And in the end, it's a pretty good representation of the world we live in and the politics that exist.

Will there be a sequel to Havoc?

From what we know so far, most probably no. Evans has made it clear that Havoc was always supposed to be a stand-alone film, and even though Walker's story ends on an uncertain note, it does not really bring in any need for the marks to indulge in a sequel. Although he did add that it would be interesting to see where it goes.

The director told Entertainment Weekly about the possibility of a sequel and said,

"It's like, well, what happens once the credits roll? Does he end up in the back of a cop car, or does he ride shotgun? Probably not. But yeah, there are a lot of unanswered questions about what the future holds for that character, and so it would be interesting to see where that goes."

Havoc is available to watch on Netflix.