He might have been confirmed to be out of action as John Wick, but Keanu Reeves has found a new hero to snap, shoot, and stab bad guys in copious amounts, and director Justin Lin will help him do it. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that a comic book creation of Reeves’ own making, BRZRKR is finally getting a live-action adaptation for Netflix with the former Mr. Wick in the lead role.
Debuting on shelves in 2021, the 12-issue comic series followed a character known as B (Reeves), a war-crazed demi-god who has wandered the world for over 80,000 years. Unable to die, B is drawn to violence and conflict, he finds a place to channel this thirst under the supervision of the US government. From here, he’s tasked with going on missions that no mortal could complete, leaving B to build a humungous body count, all hoping to find an answer to end his curse for good.
Reeves co-wrote the comic book series with Matt Kindt, which is now being adapted by The Batman 2 scribe Mattson Tomlin. Naturally, given Reeves’ ground and bone-breaking history in the genre, making him an immortal character can only spell trouble for those caught on the receiving end of B’s story.
Fortunately, the creative talent behind this is a reassuring presence, especially considering Lin’s prior collaboration with Reeves on a much more personal and independent project. His recent film, Last Days, which recounts the true story of missionary John Allen Chau during his final days before being killed by a Sentinelese tribe, nearly fell apart, almost causing Lin to shut down his operations altogether. It was only thanks to Reeves getting involved that the project was funded and finally completed, continuing the actor’s legendary status of being a cool dude.
Lin said to Collider about the process, “I think with that being an independent film process and journey, you have angels that come. In our case, for a year, we thought we had our financing, and I met some people, and it turned out not to be true. It’s one of those darkest moments where I felt like, ‘I tried my best. We tried.’ I felt really bad because Sky [Yang, the film’s lead] was already prepping, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I think that’s it…’” From there, Lin got the one call from The One, which ultimately turned things around. “Then Keanu called out of the blue, and he’s like, ‘I heard you’re having some problems. I want to help.’” Once again Keanu Reeves proves he can cut onions as well as he cuts down bad guys. In fact, to remind yourself just how great he is, check out the 35 greatest Keanu Reeves movies that’ll make you go ‘woah’ here.
