Keanu Reeves Believes 'There's A Johnny Silverhand In All Of Us'

Cyberpunk 2077, which has been delayed several times this year, is finally due out on Dec. 10. To ramp up the hype, developer CD Projekt Red has released a new and final episode of its promotional briefing series, Night City Wire, which contains several sections focusing on the role iconic actor Keanu Reeves plays in the game. 

"It's really kind of an interpretation, because I think there's a Johnny Silverhand in all of us," Reeves said of his performance during the spot. "He's got a lot of energy, he's got a good sense of humor, if not a little dark at times. He's very passionate, he cares ... He's kind of naive, but he's also super experienced in life ... He wants to change the world, you know?"

In a behind-the-scenes video segment, Reeves says that he's done voiceover work before, but never this much, and he has enjoyed playing the different attitudes of his character Johnny Silverhand from the same moment in time. There are scenes of him engaged in the motion-capture process too, which is familiar to him — he's done it dating back to the Matrix films.

In Cyberpunk 2077, the actor portrays a playable co-protagonist and military deserter-turned-Rockerboy, whose name comes from the cybernetic arm he sports as a result of an injury in the 1990 Central American conflict. Reeves has been very much involved in the marketing for Cyberpunk 2077, even becoming the face of the game since appearing at 2019's E3 trade show to announce his involvement. The video has him expounding on some of the features of Cyberpunk 2077, including the amount of freedom the title gives players.

"You can go into action, you can go into mystery, you can problem-solve in different ways, and where you go in this world, there's so much detail, there's so many different things that you can go off into that are really interesting, and fun," Reeves said. "There's a real drama to the game and emotional stakes to it." He also pointed out the game's lighter side, music, and cutting-edge technology, calling it "intense." 

Interestingly, actor Keanu Reeves appears to also exist in the world of Cyberpunk 2077. The game's senior quest designer shared a video on Twitter of fictional Cyberpunk 2077 band Yankee and the Brave, as portrayed by hip hop duo Run the Jewels, which included Reeves' name in the lyrics. Designer Patrick K. Mills explained, "It's an in universe cultural reference to [Keanu Reeves], a little known Collapse-era actor who bore [an] uncanny resemblance to Johnny Silverhand, and in the years following Johnny's disappearance, was frequently mistaken for JS."

More than one Keanu Reeves in Night City? Now we definitely want to be there. Hopefully, rumors of yet another delay are untrue.