Actor Keanu Reeves has long been confirmed to be making an appearance in CD Projekt RED’s upcoming futuristic RPG, Cyberpunk 2077. Reeves plays the character of Johnny Silverhand, a popular singer and rockerboy who has been mysteriously missing for years. The appearance of the character was inspired by Reeves himself.
However, a surprising Tweet from CD Projekt’s Senior Quest Designer Patrick Mills confirmed on Twitter that Keanu Reeves, the actor, also canonically exists in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe – and that many fans have noted his resemblance to Johnny Silverhand.
The KR lyric is lore friendly. It's an in universe cultural reference to KR, a little known Collapse-era actor who bore and uncanny resemblance to Johnny Silverhand, and in the years following Johnny's disappearance, was frequently mistaken for JS. 👉🤛 https://t.co/AxpPvlww97
— Patrick K. Mills (@PKernaghan) November 14, 2020
This revelation about Reeves was sparked by the release of a new Cyberpunk song, “No Save Point,” sung by musical group Run the Jewels as their in-universe counterparts, Yankee and the Brave. In the song, rapper Killer Mike rhymes “Keanu Reeves” with “cyber arm under my sleeve,” which prompted fans to take to Twitter asking if this meant that Keanu Reeves did in fact exist in-universe.
Mills’ confirmation was surprisingly detailed, explaining that the Reeves of Cyberpunk 2077 was a “little-known” actor, in comparison to his real life fame. He even reveals that Reeves was “frequently mistaken for Johnny Silverhand” in the years following Silverhand’s disappearance.
It is currently unknown whether Reeves will appear in the game as himself as well as Johnny Silverhand, although that would certainly be an interesting choice on CD Projekt’s part – especially if the two characters meet!
Currently, Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to release on December 10, 2020 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Stadia and PC. An upcoming episode of the webseries Night City Wire is slated to reveal more information about Johnny Silverhand, including the role which he might play in the game. The episode will stream on Thursday, November 19 beginning at 6PM CET / 9PM PT. In addition to discussing Silverhand, the episode will feature the debut of new in-game music.
