He's well known for playing hacker-turned-activist Neo in The Matrix, but Keanu Reeves will soon be bringing another warrior to life on screen.
The Beirut-born actor is set to star in a Netflix adaptation of Brzrkr, the comic book he created.
The John Wick star will produce and feature in a live-action film, as well as voice the lead character in a spin-off anime series.
The works will be based on Brzrkr, a 12-issue series penned by Reeves and Matt Kindt for Boom! Studios, and illustrated by Marvel artist Ron Garney. The first volume was released earlier in March and has already sold more than 600,000 copies.
Exciting news! Netflix is developing a live action film AND follow-up anime series based on Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR, a brutally epic saga about an immortal warrior’s 80,000 year fight through the ages. Reeves will produce and star in the film, and voice the anime. pic.twitter.com/RVWEuBCXTJ
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) March 22, 2021
The series is a "brutally epic saga about an immortal warrior's 80,000-year fight through the ages", according to a statement by Netflix, which confirmed the film will be released before the spin-off series.
Reeves will play the lead character, only known as B, a "half-mortal and half-god ... cursed and compelled to violence ... even at the sacrifice of his sanity".
The warrior eventually winds up working for the US government on their most dangerous missions in the modern day, in exchange for being told the truth about his existence – "and how to end it".
It was a concept conceived by Reeves, who told Entertainment Weekly the idea came to him as "a character that could punch through someone's chest and come out of their back, or a fight sequence where they could rip someone's arm off, or cleave someone in half".
The actor is an action favourite, having recently wrapped filming on the highly anticipated fourth instalment of The Matrix. He's also set to reprise his role as retired hitman John Wick in the fourth chapter of the action-thriller franchise, with filming touted to being later this year.
No release dates have yet been offered for either the Brzrkr film or the anime series.
