Keanu Reeves is thrilled to work on a project featuring an 80,000-year-old warrior who punches people through the chest on a regular basis.
BRZRKR, the comic book series from Boom!, was featured in a San Diego Comic-Con panel Friday. He co-created and co-wrote these studios with Matt Kindt. In the discussion, Keanu Reeves explained how he created the character, which appeared in the first issue in March 2021 and is known for literally tearing his enemies apart.
“I had this idea — I wanted a character to punch people through their chest and rip their arms off,” Reeves told the crowd. “And the idea of someone who was cursed with violence and trying to figure out who they are and how they came to be and kind of reclaiming their humanity.”
An anime series would accompany a Netflix live-action feature film starring Reeves. In all of this, Reeves has taken a very hands-on approach.
Mattson Tomlin (Project Power), who is currently working on the film script, said Reeves has provided feedback on various aspects of the comics that should be included in the film. Tomlin also relayed Reeves’ response after describing a moment when Berzerker, the immortal lead character, dealt with others.
“Keanu stopped me, and he said, ‘No, it’s not how he deals with them. It’s how they deal with him,’” Tomlin recalled. “That for me was a really critical lens perspective: OK, this is a force of nature, this character.”
In addition to Reeves’ previous films, Tomlin drew inspiration from movies with sweeping scope, including The Fountain and Tree of Life. As the screenwriter pointed out, “He can’t die, so what do you do with that? ”
The artist described working on the comic book as “some of the best creative days of his life” and a lifelong passion for it. “I was that kid coming back with bags of comic books, and it was always a good day,” the actor said. On the day the first issue came out, Reeves remembered his elation: “I was like, ‘I’m kind of an adult, and this is the best fucking Christmas I’ve ever fucking had.’”
As a boy growing up in Toronto, the star was influenced by anime during his formative years. “I was watching anime on channel 79, and I didn’t even know what it was,” Reeves said. “And then when I worked with the Wachowskis onThe Matrix, they were like, ‘You need to watch these.’ So it was Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and that’s pretty much the start of it. I’m not really up-to-date on current anime. A couple of my friends have some kids who can just spit anime, and I’m like, ‘That sounds amazing.’”
There will be a lot more BRZRKR to come, with the series’ final double-issue due out in 2023. In addition, a Random House representative revealed in a pre-taped video segment that Reeves is working with a not-yet-disclosed writer on an upcoming novel. In fact, Reeves is excited about what he can do with a character with such a rich backstory:
“I’m looking forward to exploring more of the character and different times, and that’s really rare.”
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