Keanu Reeves is already embedded deep within the Cyberpunk 2077 universe, thanks to his role as Johnny Silverhand. However, the actor himself holds a special place in the hearts of Night City citizens, too. The real Keanu Reeves is canon in that he was an actor in-universe, one the public often mistook for Johnny Silverhand because of their uncanny resemblance.
This revelation came to light courtesy of a new song from rap duo Run The Jewels, “No Save Point.” In the song, Killer Mike raps the following lyrics in his verse: “That’s righteous, huh?/Slapping palm, holdin’ a pump/Keanu Reeves, cyber arm under my sleeve.” Cyberpunk 2077’s Senior Quest Designer, Patrick K. Mills, later clarified that the song’s Keanu Reeves reference is actually “lore friendly.” Mills elaborated further in the Twitter post linked below,
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
Whether or not Keanu Reeves will receive direct mention or even appear in-game as himself remains to be seen. We should know for certain in the coming weeks, though.
Cyberpunk 2077’s most recent delay pushed the title out of its previously scheduled November due date. Thus, CD Projekt RED’s latest RPG is now on track for a December 10th launch. Though it will come to PS4, Google Stadia, PC, and Xbox One, backward compatibility will allow players to also explore Night City on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
[Source: Patrick K. Mills on Twitter via IGN]