The sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 is currently in production, with CDPR now wanting to deveop two large projects simultaneously, the first one out being The Witcher 4. But for Cyberpunk, the creator of the world, the genius Mike Pondsmith, has some thoughts about the storyline. Namely, who should return even if the story moves on from V.
Here’s Pondsmith in a recent livestream with CDPR:
“Not that long ago, I saw that Keanu would like to find a way to come back from the dead and play Johnny again,” he said. “I have ways to do that, Keanu, contact me.”
Keanu Reeves has been vocal about how much he enjoyed the role of Johnny Silverhand across both the base game and returning for the Phantom Liberty DLC. Speaking to IGN in September, Reeves said, “Absolutely. I’d love to play Johnny Silverhand again,” which is what Pondsmith is referencing.
Pondsmith went deeper into the idea of celebrities cropping up in Cyberpunk 2077 during the stream:
“Let me get this straight. You got Keanu Reeves, then you get Idris Elba,” Pondsmith added before offering another job out to another actor. “What’s next? Scarlett Johansson?… Scarlet, you know, I have roles for you. You can do anything….But, seriously, two things hit me. One, they worked really well for the characters. Two, they were people, actors, who wanted to play those characters so they immersed themselves in it.”
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell
The Scarlett Johansson bit comes off as a joke, but I mean, maybe not? If Cyberpunk can get Reeves and Elba, who’s to say they couldn’t land Johansson, no stranger to sci-fi between Ghost in the Shell, Lucy, Her, The Island and blockbuster experience in well, a dozen Avengers movies, plus now she’s leading a Jurassic Park trilogy.
Anyway, Johansson may be a reach, but the main question is how you’d get Keanu to return, moving on from the V storyline. That would heavily depend on what’s considered the “canon” ending to Cyberpunk 2077, as finales range from (spoilers) Johnny taking over V’s body to him heading beyond the Blackwall with Alt. Johnny being past the Blackwall with the AI seems like it could be the best chance to get him back in the game in some sort of storyline, but I doubt he would be co-leading things like last time.
We have very, very few indications of what the storyline of Cyberpunk 2077 2 will be. The best we can do are hints that the game may split time between the Night City we know and somewhere like a quarantined Chicago (or something equivalent), a plague-ridden, gang-filled city that exists in the lore. Sounds good to me, and if Keanu (or Scarlett) wants to join us, all the better.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.