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I understand why Viggo killed Marcus, he screwed him over. But why would Viggo then call John Wick and rub it in that he killed his friend and the man that just saved his life?
The whole first half of the movie Viggo was the smart one realizing how bad it would be to piss off John Wick then seeing it actually play out, but right when he's free and clear he goes out of his way to deliberately anger him.
Pissing off John Wick doesn't matter anymore. Viggo has already sent men to kill Wick, and even put a $2 million bounty on his head by the time he killed Marcus, so John is already pissed off (from Viggo's point of view):
Viggo tries to talk John out of seeking retribution, but John silently refuses. Viggo then sends a twelve-man hit squad to John's house, but John kills them all and has the bodies professionally removed. An unsurprised Viggo places a $2 million bounty on John's head and personally offers the contract to Marcus, John's mentor. [Wikipedia]
Besides, the plan Viggo had in mind by telling John Wick about it is to have Perkins ambush him:
Perkins sees that John and Marcus have been in contact and tells Viggo, who has Marcus beaten for information before executing him in his home. Viggo calls John to report this, planning to have Perkins ambush him. [Wikipedia]
But Perkins dies (get executed by Winston) before she could do so.
An eye for an eye.
Before killing Marcus, this is what Viggo says to Marcus,
You pulled the contract. And while it was open, you had every chance, every opportunity to kill John Wick. And if you had done your job, my son would be still alive!
Viggo is devastated by his son's death and now he seeks revenge on John Wick, so he decides to hurt him most by killing his close friend Marcus.
Viggo's plan was to kill Marcus and hurt John Wick by letting him know and flee the place in a chopper. But you know what happens when someone pisses off John Wick.
I think the main question here is "why Viggo calls John to tell him he killed his friend?", while he could have just tried to discreetly run away far from John.
As mentioned, Viggo is smart and knows how dangerous and implacable John Wick is.
I think deep down Viggo realizes that he is not gonna make it, John will find him anyway wherever Viggo runs away.
As an organization leader, Viggo keeps up appearances by setting up an escape attempt in helicopter, but the only thing that he really hopes for any more, is a final confrontation with his old acquaintance John Wick, to go out with a bang.
In the car driving Viggo and his guys to the helicopter, we can see Viggo laughing with pleasure. During the final confrontation, he also gets opportunities to exchange punching and "tasteful" dialogue: "What happened to us John? We used to be civilized, professional." - John: "Do I look civilized to you?"
So I believe Viggo called John about Marcus because that is what settled the destiny he had chosen for himself, setting up a last fight with John, rather sooner than later.
