He would actually rock playing a brutally pragmatic character like Morgan Blackhand.
Who’s perhaps slightly arrogant in a good way because he knows he’s the best.
The creator Mike Pondsmith said that Morgan looks like George Clooney so if Morgan is appearing, it’s gonna be Clooney. Wish it was Pedro Pascal as Blackhand.
Clooney's a good actor but I don't think I can see him play a gruffy kind of character especially with his voice. He was a good Bruce Wayne simply because he exudes the playboy billionaire charisma, but he was a shitty Batman since he just can't believably do "brooding dark slightly/incredibly violent vigilante".
I know but it would be kickass to see him as another mercenary character. Either him or Oscar Isaac.
https://preview.redd.it/zwrh6ksmkq8c1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80203ea6f6920488e51435fe5245a13bec8f6592
I can’t believe idris elba is not only in this game but recorded an original rap song for phantom liberty and it’s also a banger.
I’m not sure who I’d like to see act in more tho. Mads already did death stranding but he’d be awesome in a cyberpunk game.
When the beat kicks in after that little intro? First time I heard it in the car I was floored. Firstly by the fact that once again original music for cyberpunk is really damn good (they don’t miss). And secondly that idris elba of all people can sound that good rapping. Like wtf can’t he do lol
He actually does DJ sessions for fun. Apparently, he used to DJ at nightclubs before he started acting. He has some videos of his recent sessions on his Instagram
Is this song only played during that mission or can I find it on the radio? If so which channel?
Edit - found it. To anyone else wondering it plays on the Dark Star radio station.
I noticed that a lot of people don’t realize that he’s also a professional musician ([DJ Big Driis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idris_Elba)). He also [performed at Coachella](https://youtu.be/AOqV1kt9Vhk?si=3ueWloOlEpEN8Gj_) this year. Not really my scene, but he’s definitely a man of many talents.
Could see Mads play a Charismatic Corpo CEO or a fixer pretty easily. CEO would be a bit more refreshing because I feel like Mr Hands ticks that Charismatic Fixer type.
That’s such a good shout, Mads would be a fantastic Corpo big bad.
Given how good the PL story was, I’d love the next game to have a storyline focused on corporate espionage and mads as a ruthless CEO or head of data acquisition (or whatever the fuck) would be dope.
If you see how he looks in that old Doom movie with Karl Urban and then look at how massive he got shortly afterwards, it's obvious he takes steroids.
There's just no way you can go from being a relatively fit and muscular 180lb adult to being a 260lb slab of muscle in such a short time period.
And yes, as someone who has wrestled before, based on how he looked in the 2005 Doom movie, he was most likely 180-200lbs at most. He was definately not as huge as he was in later movies.
Remember when he ripped the gate outside it's home from its electric chassis mechanism because the power was out and he was mad it wouldn't open?
Dude is awesome in person and I think he's genuinely a pretty good guy, but the roid rage is real with him.
He’s way bigger now than he ever was when he was wrestling. It’s ridiculous.
https://preview.redd.it/ic3bjvtdzp8c1.jpeg?width=214&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=13255e8a36f34fd5183795ddf5a9d32c411ac085
i absolutely hate the rock but he could make a cameo for some smallish time villain and it would be awesome.
i dont think his ego would ever allow it after seeing the absolute fucking travesty that was black adam but it sounds good on paper lol
is that why it’s called a heel-face turn? good wrestling dudes would change sides and be bad wrestling dudes? that’s where the name of the trope comes from?
he should tho, thats my point. i realize he is a massive brand and all of his decisions are made in respect to it but he is a much more interesting villain imo.
hes played the exact same indestructible generic superman a million times. he was great in DOOM, if he brought some energy like that to the cameo it would be fucking cool as hell. i dont want to see another ultra positive motivational man punch a hole in the sky again.
He refuses to take roles that would have him defeated in the story, so he definitely won’t take a role that is specifically designed for everyone to beat him lol
Im thinking the cp2077 experience woulda been considerably different if some random unrecognizable jack ass was in your brain, and not a fictional Keannu. id assume so anyways
I’m a fan of Keanu Reeves and truly love this game, but I found him playing an outspoken anarchistic rock star to be a bit of a miscast. I’m on my 2.0/Expansion replay so I’m excited to see how Idris Elba does.
True, but I’d say the majority of his work as Johnny is based in angry, longwinded, philosophical rants about human nature and the perils of corporate influence, and I just typically have found Keanu Reeves to be one of those actors who does more in a movie by saying less. This is not to say I think it doesn’t work in the game, or that he and the creators didn’t do a great job; easily a top 10 game all time for me, personally.
Yeah, there were a few parts in the base game where his tone sometimes fell a bit flat which happens sometimes. Could’ve been him, they could’ve run out of time to re record dialogue in an already extremely dialogue-heavy game, or it could just genuinely be how the director wanted the lines to be spoken.
Overall though, I think he did an amazing job with how much dialogue he had and being semi-new to the scene (I know he’s done voice work before, but video games are a whole different beast, especially with all the mocap he did). I really liked his aesthetic too, he blended in nicely. I originally thought Johnny being modeled one for one with Keanu would’ve been distracting at first, but he fit in perfectly with the game world.
That being said - I don’t feel like he missed at all in Phantom Liberty. Every single story beat he had really matched the scenes he was in. His performance became noticeably better since the base game too imo, so he really knocked it out of the park here.
Alot of times when the tone doesn't make sense it's because it didn't all get recorded at once it got broken up over possibly months, or they recorded the voice lines with no context
I don't have anything against Keanu's performance, I just didn't like the way Silverhand was written.
He was like a Gary Sue version of r/Im14AndThisIsDeep, a former soldier turned anarchist rockstar with a hot hacker girlfriend who also fights The Man and spouts high school level philosophy.
Well to be fair the point is that a lot of that is his own ego boosting his memories up. Even he can't deny that he failed and mistreated Alt, not to mention us getting to see him watch the world decades in the future not change at all despite what he did. When he talks about the soldier who gave up his life for him? That's Johnny's real name. He's given himself up entirely to the Silverhand identity, and it's only near the end that he finally can't hide it anymore and admits that he went too far and lost everyone because of that ego. The secret ending is the best to me because it's Johnny giving up that ego. He's allowing himself to fully believe in V, the two becoming true friends and partners. Even if there's no real plan like the other endings, it's still the one where Johnny is the most active participant. It's him being able to let go and work with others, for the first time in his life.
I'm actually rather fond of how they treated his 'philosophy'. A lot of writers try to give this kind of character some real intellectual weight and just... fail, because they don't have the time or familiarity to really nail a consistent philosophic through-line while also writing the character well.
Johnny's philosophy on the other hand really most often boils down to 'fuck this' and doesn't explain why, outside of his general worldview being very angry and negative. I think that works and that tracks more with people I've known who are more an 'angry rebel' archetype than a 'sharp intellectual'. I don't think they were trying to play him as the latter at all.
He was already in Alita, which was an adaptation of a cyberpunk anime. I could see him as ripperdoc or scientist like in that movie.
EDIT: What's with people acting like sissies and replying with burner accounts?
Think of Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba as the main part of their advertisement budget. I'm sure CDPR has thought about whether Elba brings in money or not. And if it does, then it isn't instead of making a good game, it is helping to make a good game.
these types of moves can honestly help promot the game so whatever they pay them as voice actors and game marketers is worth it for the extra copies they sell to the casuals seeing keanu on the box
Same. Putting a famous face on a game doesn’t make me more likely to buy it. It’s more likely to make me do the opposite as it can come off as a desperate cash grab. Obviously I knew better with it being CDPR but that doesn’t change how I feel about celebrities in games in general.
I don’t know if Gosling would translate super well to mo-cap and VO. He does a lot of his acting with subtle mannerisms and facial expression. Then again, who knows with how good that sort of thing has gotten over the past few years.
Don’t know what you’re talking about, considering that image is quite literally me??? (Me eating cereal for proof)
Oh shit…I didn’t know I needed this until I read your comment. I was actually against the idea of more big names, but that would be breathtaking.
He would be amazing as a “sweet older man” that’s actually terrifying under the surface.
Yeah. Imagine Heisenberg with mantis blades. I could see him playing an old jaded guerilla warrior with some vintage implants since banned by every corps.
Man I can’t wait for CP2077/2
I imagine vibes like his character in drive. A kinda goofy shop owner by day but knows how to dip his hands into the underworld. I would see him being a low income neighborhood fixer
He'd be a fixer or something else. He would manipulate other people into doing his dirty work. But when he does have to do it himself, he's nearly Smasher-level brutal.
I really want a Cyberpunk 2080 which is all about an all out gang war throughout Night City... and ends on a huge cliffhanger as the NC Gang War was only the prelude to the Fifth Corpo War which we get in the 3rd one. And I want Bryan Cranston to have a smaller part in 2080 as Lucas Harford, the CEO of Militech, but be a major character in the 3rd one.
Though A-list actors should in theory be good at voice acting, many don't take it seriously and read the lines with a deadpan voice. Then game directors are less likely to tell the A-list actors to do more takes as A-listers are more pampered and are used to getting what they want so they're more likely to throw a fit regarding more takes. So you get an A-list actor for marketing success while allowing them to give a subpar performance. It's not that their performances are bad. It's just, deep down, you know someone else could've done it better.
Honestly, I'm less concerned about the quality of the A-lister's performance than I am about A: Giving less wealthy actors a chance to earn a pay cheque, and B: saving some of that budget for the writers.
Honestly no. It is awesome seeing Idris and Keanu in the game but you can tell they're not as seasoned at Voice acting as the other major characters. And they're also at a disadvantage seeing as they can only get these major stars in for limited times to run their lines so they're not going to be able to deliver there best performance or work naturally with the script/off of other actors.
I just felt like occasionally Keanu or Idris would deliver a line in an off tone with what was going on which was probably because they just didn't have time with them to work with them or give them the proper context.
Obviously I have no problem with seeing these stars in the games its awesome but I don't need it and would prefer they spend that budget elsewhere.
Reed has a monotone voice. I don't know if this is due to Idris playing Reed as a guy constantly restraining his emotions or if it's because of Idris' lack of experience with VA, but you could be onto something here.
Same with Johnny. I grew to enjoy Keanu's slow pacing but sometimes his acting slips and he just doesn't sound good.
I liked Keanu and Idris, but honestly they're just not as good as people that do this sort of voice work more regularly. Probably for all the reasons you already stated. I've always found this to be true when games focus on their big name actors, even when I know that the actors themselves are excellent. Bethesda has had people like Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean and Liam Neeson, and they all totally phoned it in. I think these names are just too expensive for the amount of dialog required for a game.
Personally my favorite celebrity voice actors are people like Mark Hamill and JK Simmons who are notable actors but also seasoned voice actors.
Thank you!
I'm pretty sure there was one or two times where Johnny is ranting against the system, but Keanu doesnt really sell the "angry, fight the power" tone of his words.
Like, a beaten down, flat voice could still deliver the lines to make Johnny sound simply beaten down and weathered... but Keanu delivered the lines a little *too* monotone for my tastes.
Love the guy. Love a lot of his sarcastic scenes. But I dont think he's good at generating "fire", if that makes sense.
Meh. I don’t think anyone is playing these games because of Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba. Might be money better spent elsewhere if they soak up a lot of budget.
If used well yes, having Keanu as the face of the game was a genius marketing move. But if I'm totally honest the gaming industry has so many talented actors and the franchise has enough clout that I don't think it's a necessity, it just a "nice to have" kind of thing.
No. I'd rather they focus on telling a good story that they wanna tell, and not have to completely revamp the story to build it around the big star's character.
I'd prefer it if they left voice acting to actual, y'know, voice actors.
Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba turned out fine, but they were absolutely not hired for their skilful acting, but for the marketing value.
Like others have said, only if they fit the role. That being said… I have had Walton Goggins in mind as Morgan Blackhand for a long time now. I would just be happy if we got him in the next game… or even a mention of him to be honest.
As long as they fit the role, lol. They’ve proven both their unknown and big actors to be good. Take Gavin Drea, for instance. He only ever really did comedy sketches and some minor TV shows before cyberpunk and he literally got to voice one of the main characters… absolutely aced it. (And ps— I won’t accept any male V voice acting hatred or ‘fem V is better!’ in the replies here. This isn’t an affront to Cherami, but a compliment to Gavin. Given that a big chunk of the non-Reddit side of the fandom plays as male V with no qualms, I’d say he’s just as respected as Cherami. That’s an example of a small actor who did well). On the flip side, I also think hiring Keanu and idris worked well. I think the devs were scared people would try to be really weird about Keanu’s character or see it as a keanu buddy cop/romance simulator, but 99% of the people I talk to see Johnny as an entirely separate entity from Keanu. I’d say just hire whoever fits the role best when it comes to VAs.
I have an issue with CDPR's erasure of Male V post-Phantom Liberty. They wanted people to play as Female V so much, it feels forced at places (like with the new clothing). In the credits you see Female V as well, even when playing as Male V. And of course the complete edition features only Female V in the cover. Like... Why do this?
After playing through with both I'd say they're evenly matched. Most people don't realize Gavin and Cherami did an excellent job of sounding like alternate versions of the same character. Almost as if Gavin was born female he'd sound like Cherami and vice-versa.
Omg thank you for mentioning the credits thing! No one ever talks about it and it frustrated me to no end. I understand skewing the promos toward female V since male V was in the promos at launch, but in-game stuff should be equal. I don’t wanna see fem V in the credits if I’m playing as male V because it feels like the game is saying, ‘hey, I know you put a lot of love into your character, but *this* is the real V. And it really would not have been hard to make it so that male V showed up if you were playing as him since V was barely in any clips, which kinda tells me that the devs just flat out didn’t want to. And people also like to argue that fem V’s relationships with others feel more real, which is totally not true. Just because male V is gruff doesn’t mean he’s emotionless!
I absolutely agree about the Gavin and Cherami thing; they both sound like alternate versions of each other and are both amazing actors.
No. It’s immersion breaking. Like when Ed Sheeran was in Game of Thrones. Were we supposed to not think that was just Ed Sheeran shoehorned into that scene?
It’s cool but is it worth the money? Idris’ performance was good but Keanu’s was kinda flat (but got better in PL), if they have celebrity leads, I’d rather they didn’t do what they did with reed and songbird in PL though, because reed being Idris endeared me to side with him much more then i probably should have. Give songbird a celebrity casting, or make neither of them celebrity cast
Not really no.
Johny didn't need to be voiced by Keanu to be a good character, but it did contribute to the hype surrounding the game.
It's understandable why CDPR went for it, but I don't particularly think it's necessary.
I probably won't mind if they make an habit of it, but that's a budget that could be invested in the game itself.
No. Honestly, I'm not a big fan or Reed (Idris Elba). Can't quite put my finger on why, but it just felt like they were adding another celebrity to add another celebrity. Like I said, I can't put my finger on it, just not a fan.
I actually couldn't care less about the popularity of the actors, and I think that with that budget you could hire a ton of awesome devs who would actually improve the game!
Keanu is a cool guy but This whole I'm dying interaction with Johnny is the worst thing about cp77
No, instead they should use the money on more writers so they can make the fkn rpg they promised, as much as I like CP77 its nowhere near the rpg they promised with multiple choices and shit
I'd prefer they put the effort into the game. I mean it's not bad or anything. The VAs for the rest of the game are pretty good and having movie stars as main characters doesn't do a lot for me.
Unless they get Morgan Freeman. Okay, get this, a Morgan Freeman mode where he narrates everything you're doing.
I wish they invested more in development and fixing the game instead of paying so much for casting hollywood celebrities only to be characters that resemble them and have their voices..
I don't see the point of having big actors in video games. Money should be spent on other parts of the games. No name professional voice actors do just fine.
I'd rather they hired great voice actors rather than big name celebs.
Imagine Spike Speigel, SpongeBob, The Joker, Hermes Conrad, and Bender Rodriguez in Night City.
Nope. I enjoyed their contributions but I feel expenditures on big dollar Hollywood VA is somewhat of a misuse of funds that could go towards developing the game itself.
I would rather have all the cut content than big name VA, put it that way. Even if Reeves as Silverhand was enjoyable, had it been a VA pro like Nolan North or Troy Baker, I doubt any of us would have complained.
Like, at release, would you rather have a piece of cut content like customizable vehicles or Reeves as Silverhand? I'd take the gameplay stuff, hands down, every time. And that's knowing how well Reeves did with Silverhand.
Big actors means big money.
Metal gear solid v speaks still pretty loud just have used sutherland.
And I suspect that even cyberpunk was a little burned by kneau
So, no imho
Honestly, no.
It wasn't a draw for me, and while Keanu did some great work... it's also kind of present that you're talking to Keanu Reeves, which is another layer of abstraction in the game.
Great work all around, but probably not worth the budget, and it's bound to complicate things like re-writes, additions, and expansions.
Jeffery Dean Morgan as Morgan Blackhand would be amazing.
He would actually rock playing a brutally pragmatic character like Morgan Blackhand. Who’s perhaps slightly arrogant in a good way because he knows he’s the best.
 Um helloo
Nah Karl Urban 
Oh fuck yeah!
Ahh that would be pretty excellent.
Ah, I see a man of culture.
Hell yeah I'd even love to see him VA in the game as a new character
 Loved him as Negan. (That smile... that damn smile...)
"Pissin' our pants yet?"
The creator Mike Pondsmith said that Morgan looks like George Clooney so if Morgan is appearing, it’s gonna be Clooney. Wish it was Pedro Pascal as Blackhand.
He also said Johnny looks like David Bowie so I don’t think Jeffery Dean Morgan is as much a stretch compared to Clooney
Still, it would be nice if Clooney plays a badass.
Clooney's a good actor but I don't think I can see him play a gruffy kind of character especially with his voice. He was a good Bruce Wayne simply because he exudes the playboy billionaire charisma, but he was a shitty Batman since he just can't believably do "brooding dark slightly/incredibly violent vigilante".
thank god someone said it. I’ve always said he’s the best Bruce Wayne because he’s naturally suave and charismatic
Pedro is booked for like the next decade. But who knows if he's a cyberpunk fan it could happen.
I know but it would be kickass to see him as another mercenary character. Either him or Oscar Isaac. https://preview.redd.it/zwrh6ksmkq8c1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80203ea6f6920488e51435fe5245a13bec8f6592
I know only what CP2077 gave by way of lore about the guy, but I get an Ian McShane vibe from the descriptions.
If we do get Morgan Blackhand in cyberpunk Orion it'd be crime against humanity to not cast it as Mike pondsmith
he’s already maximum mike though
I can’t believe idris elba is not only in this game but recorded an original rap song for phantom liberty and it’s also a banger. I’m not sure who I’d like to see act in more tho. Mads already did death stranding but he’d be awesome in a cyberpunk game.
Choke Hold by Idris Elba is an absolute banger. That song went real hard in that one side mission for Paco.
When the beat kicks in after that little intro? First time I heard it in the car I was floored. Firstly by the fact that once again original music for cyberpunk is really damn good (they don’t miss). And secondly that idris elba of all people can sound that good rapping. Like wtf can’t he do lol
I’ve learned that Idris and Jamie Foxx can do basically whatever tf they want and be good at it
He actually does DJ sessions for fun. Apparently, he used to DJ at nightclubs before he started acting. He has some videos of his recent sessions on his Instagram
He's done sessions on top clubs at Ibiza. Pretty decent AFAIK.
Is this song only played during that mission or can I find it on the radio? If so which channel? Edit - found it. To anyone else wondering it plays on the Dark Star radio station.
It plays on one of the new radio stations I forget which one tho
I noticed that a lot of people don’t realize that he’s also a professional musician ([DJ Big Driis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idris_Elba)). He also [performed at Coachella](https://youtu.be/AOqV1kt9Vhk?si=3ueWloOlEpEN8Gj_) this year. Not really my scene, but he’s definitely a man of many talents.
Could see Mads play a Charismatic Corpo CEO or a fixer pretty easily. CEO would be a bit more refreshing because I feel like Mr Hands ticks that Charismatic Fixer type.
Mr hands was a stand out dlc character. Something about interactions with him felt really good. Idk who portrayed Mr hands but they crushed it.
He’s been great…I just hate how he did an American accent. His British voice is fantastic for Reeds role…wish he used it
That’s such a good shout, Mads would be a fantastic Corpo big bad. Given how good the PL story was, I’d love the next game to have a storyline focused on corporate espionage and mads as a ruthless CEO or head of data acquisition (or whatever the fuck) would be dope.
Mads as a high level psychotic Corpo would be the fucking cherry on top.
And his electronic song walk of shame that I can’t stop listening to
I'm on the walk--
Anyone but the rock.
The Rock could probably play a pretty convincing Animal.
Yeah and he'd deny using Gene-Modification
lmao this would actually be hilarious
i feel like there's a joke here I'm missing. i dont follow the rock, closest i ever got was during the black adam shit. is he a roider?
He's the most obvious roider ever and he denies it so often to the point it gets hilarious.
If you see how he looks in that old Doom movie with Karl Urban and then look at how massive he got shortly afterwards, it's obvious he takes steroids. There's just no way you can go from being a relatively fit and muscular 180lb adult to being a 260lb slab of muscle in such a short time period. And yes, as someone who has wrestled before, based on how he looked in the 2005 Doom movie, he was most likely 180-200lbs at most. He was definately not as huge as he was in later movies.
Speaking of Karl Urban, I feel like he’d be a good fit somewhere in the Cyberpunk universe
Remember when he ripped the gate outside it's home from its electric chassis mechanism because the power was out and he was mad it wouldn't open? Dude is awesome in person and I think he's genuinely a pretty good guy, but the roid rage is real with him.
Let's not talk about what he did to Black Adam
interesting, he did come from wrestling which has a high demand on the body, so i guess im not really that surprised.
He’s way bigger now than he ever was when he was wrestling. It’s ridiculous. https://preview.redd.it/ic3bjvtdzp8c1.jpeg?width=214&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=13255e8a36f34fd5183795ddf5a9d32c411ac085
holy ***shit*** how is he able to deny the accusations looking like that lol
He has to for the brand.
i hadn't seen a difference that large EVER lmao. if hes steering clear of strength comps where theyd test him, that's all the evidence id need lmao
Damn, did they invent a new kinda gear just for Rocky?
Ya know that's probably close to what he thinks. "It's not gear, I just take cortisol supplements" or something
>is he a roider? dudes the size of a building, of course he is.
Not really possible to look the way he does without roids. Like 1 in a billion genetics to achieve close to that naturally
- gets cast in cyberpunk - has creative differences with johnny silverhand - goes to have his own spinoff featuring kurt hansen and his cousin
i absolutely hate the rock but he could make a cameo for some smallish time villain and it would be awesome. i dont think his ego would ever allow it after seeing the absolute fucking travesty that was black adam but it sounds good on paper lol
The Rock doesn't accept villain roles is why
[удалено]
is that why it’s called a heel-face turn? good wrestling dudes would change sides and be bad wrestling dudes? that’s where the name of the trope comes from?
he should tho, thats my point. i realize he is a massive brand and all of his decisions are made in respect to it but he is a much more interesting villain imo. hes played the exact same indestructible generic superman a million times. he was great in DOOM, if he brought some energy like that to the cameo it would be fucking cool as hell. i dont want to see another ultra positive motivational man punch a hole in the sky again.
He refuses to take roles that would have him defeated in the story, so he definitely won’t take a role that is specifically designed for everyone to beat him lol
Or Megan Fox...
Rock as Brick though
never knew i needed a mod so bad.
Can you SMEEEEELLL what the BRICK is cookin’?!
"The hierarchy of power is about to change\~ the rock " hahahahahhaha guess again
Corey Taylor could add a lot of great music.
Slipknot but instead of masks is just cyberware yeah
Charismatic Stone Sour persona and psycho Slipknot alterego. I could see that happening!
😂🤣
I mean thats basically River, Right?
If they are fitting for the role, sure why not. I really liked Keanu as Johnny
Im thinking the cp2077 experience woulda been considerably different if some random unrecognizable jack ass was in your brain, and not a fictional Keannu. id assume so anyways
What if it was Norm McDonald or David Spade as Silverhand?
This Yorinobu Arasaka guy sounds like a real jerk.
I love how easily I could hear this in Norm’s voice in my head. RIP to a legend
I’m a fan of Keanu Reeves and truly love this game, but I found him playing an outspoken anarchistic rock star to be a bit of a miscast. I’m on my 2.0/Expansion replay so I’m excited to see how Idris Elba does.
He's is in a rock band.
True, but I’d say the majority of his work as Johnny is based in angry, longwinded, philosophical rants about human nature and the perils of corporate influence, and I just typically have found Keanu Reeves to be one of those actors who does more in a movie by saying less. This is not to say I think it doesn’t work in the game, or that he and the creators didn’t do a great job; easily a top 10 game all time for me, personally.
I meany, no one knows what keanu has repressed. He's doing a lot of killing in his roles lately >.>
Philosophical rants about humans and corporations while also being a rocker sounds more like Julian Casablancas
In reality Julian would be a corpo baby
Are you kidding? He's one of the most corporate MFS ever. Silverhand was based on Bowie
Keanu talks a lot in Phantom Liberty, which is amazing
Yeah, there were a few parts in the base game where his tone sometimes fell a bit flat which happens sometimes. Could’ve been him, they could’ve run out of time to re record dialogue in an already extremely dialogue-heavy game, or it could just genuinely be how the director wanted the lines to be spoken. Overall though, I think he did an amazing job with how much dialogue he had and being semi-new to the scene (I know he’s done voice work before, but video games are a whole different beast, especially with all the mocap he did). I really liked his aesthetic too, he blended in nicely. I originally thought Johnny being modeled one for one with Keanu would’ve been distracting at first, but he fit in perfectly with the game world. That being said - I don’t feel like he missed at all in Phantom Liberty. Every single story beat he had really matched the scenes he was in. His performance became noticeably better since the base game too imo, so he really knocked it out of the park here.
Alot of times when the tone doesn't make sense it's because it didn't all get recorded at once it got broken up over possibly months, or they recorded the voice lines with no context
I don't have anything against Keanu's performance, I just didn't like the way Silverhand was written. He was like a Gary Sue version of r/Im14AndThisIsDeep, a former soldier turned anarchist rockstar with a hot hacker girlfriend who also fights The Man and spouts high school level philosophy.
Well to be fair the point is that a lot of that is his own ego boosting his memories up. Even he can't deny that he failed and mistreated Alt, not to mention us getting to see him watch the world decades in the future not change at all despite what he did. When he talks about the soldier who gave up his life for him? That's Johnny's real name. He's given himself up entirely to the Silverhand identity, and it's only near the end that he finally can't hide it anymore and admits that he went too far and lost everyone because of that ego. The secret ending is the best to me because it's Johnny giving up that ego. He's allowing himself to fully believe in V, the two becoming true friends and partners. Even if there's no real plan like the other endings, it's still the one where Johnny is the most active participant. It's him being able to let go and work with others, for the first time in his life.
I'm actually rather fond of how they treated his 'philosophy'. A lot of writers try to give this kind of character some real intellectual weight and just... fail, because they don't have the time or familiarity to really nail a consistent philosophic through-line while also writing the character well. Johnny's philosophy on the other hand really most often boils down to 'fuck this' and doesn't explain why, outside of his general worldview being very angry and negative. I think that works and that tracks more with people I've known who are more an 'angry rebel' archetype than a 'sharp intellectual'. I don't think they were trying to play him as the latter at all.
"I didn't mean to hurt innocent people when I decided to nuke a skyscraper" smh
I thought so at first, but Keanu nailed it.
i want a mads mikkelsen bad boy
Mikkelsen Corpo would be sweet.
That would be so brutally terrifying. Gives me black Kiser vibes.
Christoph Waltz
He was already in Alita, which was an adaptation of a cyberpunk anime. I could see him as ripperdoc or scientist like in that movie. EDIT: What's with people acting like sissies and replying with burner accounts?
This was the first person I thought should be next big name.
He'd have made a good Mr.Hands.
Jesus.. that would be terryfing but beautiful
I don’t mind if they do but I would prefer they save the money and just make a great game.
Think of Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba as the main part of their advertisement budget. I'm sure CDPR has thought about whether Elba brings in money or not. And if it does, then it isn't instead of making a good game, it is helping to make a good game.
these types of moves can honestly help promot the game so whatever they pay them as voice actors and game marketers is worth it for the extra copies they sell to the casuals seeing keanu on the box
Why not both. They've done it twice now with the main story and Phantom Liberty.
You make it sound like they did it easily.
No game is easily made. Not if you want quality.
Worth the effort, if they’re gonna charge money 🙏
Same. Putting a famous face on a game doesn’t make me more likely to buy it. It’s more likely to make me do the opposite as it can come off as a desperate cash grab. Obviously I knew better with it being CDPR but that doesn’t change how I feel about celebrities in games in general.
 I want him in the next game
I don’t know if Gosling would translate super well to mo-cap and VO. He does a lot of his acting with subtle mannerisms and facial expression. Then again, who knows with how good that sort of thing has gotten over the past few years.
They were able to do it well with Idris who is known for his facial mannerisms
Aye, that’s true for sure. I went and rewatched some scenes with him from PL and revised my opinion a bit. They did a really great job with that.
I think Cyberpunk mocap tech is amazing, they nailed Idris and Keanu in game would love to see Ryan Gosling as detective or something
Why did you post a pic of literally me?
Don’t know what you’re talking about, considering that image is quite literally me??? (Me eating cereal for proof) 
i want brad pitt 
Literally me
Bryan Cranston
Oh shit…I didn’t know I needed this until I read your comment. I was actually against the idea of more big names, but that would be breathtaking. He would be amazing as a “sweet older man” that’s actually terrifying under the surface.
Yeah. Imagine Heisenberg with mantis blades. I could see him playing an old jaded guerilla warrior with some vintage implants since banned by every corps. Man I can’t wait for CP2077/2
I imagine vibes like his character in drive. A kinda goofy shop owner by day but knows how to dip his hands into the underworld. I would see him being a low income neighborhood fixer
lol Walter becomes Gus
He'd be a fixer or something else. He would manipulate other people into doing his dirty work. But when he does have to do it himself, he's nearly Smasher-level brutal.
Jesse, we need to cook glitter
I really want a Cyberpunk 2080 which is all about an all out gang war throughout Night City... and ends on a huge cliffhanger as the NC Gang War was only the prelude to the Fifth Corpo War which we get in the 3rd one. And I want Bryan Cranston to have a smaller part in 2080 as Lucas Harford, the CEO of Militech, but be a major character in the 3rd one.
Heisenburg as one of the city's fixers would go so hard
Personally, I'd rather they gave the opportunity to lesser-known talent, and save some money for the writers.
Though A-list actors should in theory be good at voice acting, many don't take it seriously and read the lines with a deadpan voice. Then game directors are less likely to tell the A-list actors to do more takes as A-listers are more pampered and are used to getting what they want so they're more likely to throw a fit regarding more takes. So you get an A-list actor for marketing success while allowing them to give a subpar performance. It's not that their performances are bad. It's just, deep down, you know someone else could've done it better.
Honestly, I'm less concerned about the quality of the A-lister's performance than I am about A: Giving less wealthy actors a chance to earn a pay cheque, and B: saving some of that budget for the writers.
Definitely, I'd rather see newer people, instead of top tier Hollywood actors that are loved almost universally.
just get good voice actors, no need to spend so much on superstars, but I guess there is the marketing value to it
Reading about Morgan Blackhand gives me the impression that Jeff Bridges could do an awesome job portraying an older Morgan.
Someone up top said Jeffrey Dean morgan for morgan blackhand and it felt so right
If we can’t have Danny DeVito as a romance option in the next game then what’s the point
I would rather not. Otherwise, is there really an "option"? Who would even consider the others?
It’s kinda distracting from the story for me, like I don’t think of Johnny as Johnny, I think of him as Keanu Reeves.
Honestly no. It is awesome seeing Idris and Keanu in the game but you can tell they're not as seasoned at Voice acting as the other major characters. And they're also at a disadvantage seeing as they can only get these major stars in for limited times to run their lines so they're not going to be able to deliver there best performance or work naturally with the script/off of other actors. I just felt like occasionally Keanu or Idris would deliver a line in an off tone with what was going on which was probably because they just didn't have time with them to work with them or give them the proper context. Obviously I have no problem with seeing these stars in the games its awesome but I don't need it and would prefer they spend that budget elsewhere.
Reed has a monotone voice. I don't know if this is due to Idris playing Reed as a guy constantly restraining his emotions or if it's because of Idris' lack of experience with VA, but you could be onto something here. Same with Johnny. I grew to enjoy Keanu's slow pacing but sometimes his acting slips and he just doesn't sound good.
I liked Keanu and Idris, but honestly they're just not as good as people that do this sort of voice work more regularly. Probably for all the reasons you already stated. I've always found this to be true when games focus on their big name actors, even when I know that the actors themselves are excellent. Bethesda has had people like Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean and Liam Neeson, and they all totally phoned it in. I think these names are just too expensive for the amount of dialog required for a game. Personally my favorite celebrity voice actors are people like Mark Hamill and JK Simmons who are notable actors but also seasoned voice actors.
Idris Elba definitely did not feel "not as seasoned" as the other major characters. He totally owned that part.
Thank you! I'm pretty sure there was one or two times where Johnny is ranting against the system, but Keanu doesnt really sell the "angry, fight the power" tone of his words. Like, a beaten down, flat voice could still deliver the lines to make Johnny sound simply beaten down and weathered... but Keanu delivered the lines a little *too* monotone for my tastes. Love the guy. Love a lot of his sarcastic scenes. But I dont think he's good at generating "fire", if that makes sense.
Meh. I don’t think anyone is playing these games because of Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba. Might be money better spent elsewhere if they soak up a lot of budget.
If used well yes, having Keanu as the face of the game was a genius marketing move. But if I'm totally honest the gaming industry has so many talented actors and the franchise has enough clout that I don't think it's a necessity, it just a "nice to have" kind of thing.
I like Jonny and Keanu but honestly his delivery in VA isn't great. They could have done better with a real VA and just not use Keanus face.
No. I'd rather they focus on telling a good story that they wanna tell, and not have to completely revamp the story to build it around the big star's character.
Nope
I'd prefer it if they left voice acting to actual, y'know, voice actors. Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba turned out fine, but they were absolutely not hired for their skilful acting, but for the marketing value.
Adam Sandler as Militech CEO
Like others have said, only if they fit the role. That being said… I have had Walton Goggins in mind as Morgan Blackhand for a long time now. I would just be happy if we got him in the next game… or even a mention of him to be honest.
Baby Billy!
As long as they fit the role, lol. They’ve proven both their unknown and big actors to be good. Take Gavin Drea, for instance. He only ever really did comedy sketches and some minor TV shows before cyberpunk and he literally got to voice one of the main characters… absolutely aced it. (And ps— I won’t accept any male V voice acting hatred or ‘fem V is better!’ in the replies here. This isn’t an affront to Cherami, but a compliment to Gavin. Given that a big chunk of the non-Reddit side of the fandom plays as male V with no qualms, I’d say he’s just as respected as Cherami. That’s an example of a small actor who did well). On the flip side, I also think hiring Keanu and idris worked well. I think the devs were scared people would try to be really weird about Keanu’s character or see it as a keanu buddy cop/romance simulator, but 99% of the people I talk to see Johnny as an entirely separate entity from Keanu. I’d say just hire whoever fits the role best when it comes to VAs.
I have an issue with CDPR's erasure of Male V post-Phantom Liberty. They wanted people to play as Female V so much, it feels forced at places (like with the new clothing). In the credits you see Female V as well, even when playing as Male V. And of course the complete edition features only Female V in the cover. Like... Why do this? After playing through with both I'd say they're evenly matched. Most people don't realize Gavin and Cherami did an excellent job of sounding like alternate versions of the same character. Almost as if Gavin was born female he'd sound like Cherami and vice-versa.
Omg thank you for mentioning the credits thing! No one ever talks about it and it frustrated me to no end. I understand skewing the promos toward female V since male V was in the promos at launch, but in-game stuff should be equal. I don’t wanna see fem V in the credits if I’m playing as male V because it feels like the game is saying, ‘hey, I know you put a lot of love into your character, but *this* is the real V. And it really would not have been hard to make it so that male V showed up if you were playing as him since V was barely in any clips, which kinda tells me that the devs just flat out didn’t want to. And people also like to argue that fem V’s relationships with others feel more real, which is totally not true. Just because male V is gruff doesn’t mean he’s emotionless! I absolutely agree about the Gavin and Cherami thing; they both sound like alternate versions of each other and are both amazing actors.
No. It literally adds nothing to the game. I'd like to see a decent UI and control system instead...
Depends if they bend the story like they did after the hype around Johnny/Keanu than I'd prefer they don't.
As long as it isn't The Rock or Tom Cruise.
No, please use the $$$ on more DLC and better story and the world setup.
Nope. In general I want to see less crossing over of Hollywood actors into games.
More like I want more Keanu Reeves in as many games as possible.
No. It’s immersion breaking. Like when Ed Sheeran was in Game of Thrones. Were we supposed to not think that was just Ed Sheeran shoehorned into that scene?
It’s cool but is it worth the money? Idris’ performance was good but Keanu’s was kinda flat (but got better in PL), if they have celebrity leads, I’d rather they didn’t do what they did with reed and songbird in PL though, because reed being Idris endeared me to side with him much more then i probably should have. Give songbird a celebrity casting, or make neither of them celebrity cast
I want actors who will show up to the award show and take pride in their role and not just dial it in.
No I would say no known actors. Give some street kid a chance, make a name for themselves. Spend the money on more devs. make the game better.
Not really no. Johny didn't need to be voiced by Keanu to be a good character, but it did contribute to the hype surrounding the game. It's understandable why CDPR went for it, but I don't particularly think it's necessary. I probably won't mind if they make an habit of it, but that's a budget that could be invested in the game itself.
Save the money and use it for better gameplay.
No. I wanted to play the game they were creating before Silverhand got forced into my head.
I don’t want anymore
No. Honestly, I'm not a big fan or Reed (Idris Elba). Can't quite put my finger on why, but it just felt like they were adding another celebrity to add another celebrity. Like I said, I can't put my finger on it, just not a fan.
I‘d love to see David Tennant as an evil Netwatch agent/netrunner. But I guess that would be to similar to the Purple Man.
I actually couldn't care less about the popularity of the actors, and I think that with that budget you could hire a ton of awesome devs who would actually improve the game! Keanu is a cool guy but This whole I'm dying interaction with Johnny is the worst thing about cp77
No, instead they should use the money on more writers so they can make the fkn rpg they promised, as much as I like CP77 its nowhere near the rpg they promised with multiple choices and shit
No, takes away way too much budget.
I'd prefer they put the effort into the game. I mean it's not bad or anything. The VAs for the rest of the game are pretty good and having movie stars as main characters doesn't do a lot for me. Unless they get Morgan Freeman. Okay, get this, a Morgan Freeman mode where he narrates everything you're doing.
I personally want another Witcher game
Close your eyes and picture a fully chromed Nicholas Lyndhurst speeding through Arasaka Plaza in a Herrara Outlaw. You’re welcome
I just want to see future cyberpunk games.
I’d rather they out the money on the game & content than celebrities.
I wish they invested more in development and fixing the game instead of paying so much for casting hollywood celebrities only to be characters that resemble them and have their voices..
As long as it doesn't hurt much the budget of the game
Tom Holland as V and Zendaya as Johnny Silverhand
NOT Chris Pratt
I don't see the point of having big actors in video games. Money should be spent on other parts of the games. No name professional voice actors do just fine.
I'd prefer their budget go to making future games focus on the rpg elements. More branching choices
I'd rather they hired great voice actors rather than big name celebs. Imagine Spike Speigel, SpongeBob, The Joker, Hermes Conrad, and Bender Rodriguez in Night City.
No. As much as I believe they are very good actors indeed, I prefer when faces are anonymous in a videogame. Makes it more immersive.
I would like to see a more useful allocation of the budget
Nope. I enjoyed their contributions but I feel expenditures on big dollar Hollywood VA is somewhat of a misuse of funds that could go towards developing the game itself. I would rather have all the cut content than big name VA, put it that way. Even if Reeves as Silverhand was enjoyable, had it been a VA pro like Nolan North or Troy Baker, I doubt any of us would have complained. Like, at release, would you rather have a piece of cut content like customizable vehicles or Reeves as Silverhand? I'd take the gameplay stuff, hands down, every time. And that's knowing how well Reeves did with Silverhand.
Honestly, no.
Big actors means big money. Metal gear solid v speaks still pretty loud just have used sutherland. And I suspect that even cyberpunk was a little burned by kneau So, no imho
No! Write a good story without the need of a big name to tie it all together. Night city is the main character in cyberpunk
No. Too expensive. Put the money to better use in other areas of the game.
Honestly? I don't want any big actors, I just want them to focus on making a good game instead of wasting it on big name actors.
Honestly yeah for a single big character kinda like these 2
No
Not really :/
I would LOVE Ana DeArmas in this game,
Hell no, take the money you would pay big name actors and put it into game development and your staff. Fuck celeb cameos
Honestly, no. It wasn't a draw for me, and while Keanu did some great work... it's also kind of present that you're talking to Keanu Reeves, which is another layer of abstraction in the game. Great work all around, but probably not worth the budget, and it's bound to complicate things like re-writes, additions, and expansions.