Johnny Silverhand/ Keanu Reeves

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Does the announcement of Keanu Reeves change your childhood hero choice?

  • I was planning on going with Johnny Silverhand all along!

    Votes: 16 16.8%
  • I was on the fence but now I'm definitely choosing him!

    Votes: 14 14.7%
  • I was going to but not anymore!

    Votes: 2 2.1%
  • I'm not going to decide anything until I see all choices at release.

    Votes: 60 63.2%
  • I'm a wild one, I'm going to roll the dice and choose randomly!

    Votes: 3 3.2%

  • Total voters
    95
In the scene below you can see Johnny present during your conversation with the fixer(?). He looks like a hologram or something.

Does this mean he will be our companion? Or is this just his image inside our heads?


View attachment 11002678

I find it highly likely that we'll do a few runs with him at our side.

BUT, communicating with him at distance through some advanced 3d holographic means seems just as likely:D
 
It depends really, a dead friend then a betrayal by someone on the basis of the events that led to your friends death... that's as personal as it gets. Seems a fine way to set the tone for the story. Then again, might not be the only one.
 
Hahaha :D

 
is this just his image inside our heads?
Given that V has Cyberoptics, it's possible that Silverhand exists solely in his head/on the net.
Screenshot (18).png

Silverhand goes partially transparent, which could be becasue of some cloaking device or because he's not really there.
Screenshot (16) - Copy.png

The advert for Kiroshi Opticals could also be a hint towards this.
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I don't know if the "AI ID"s mentioned here indicate anything, could just refer to what T-Bug used to hack V's cyberware
 
Given that V has Cyberoptics, it's possible that Silverhand exists solely in his head/on the net.
View attachment 11002693
Silverhand goes partially transparent, which could be becasue of some cloaking device or because he's not really there.
View attachment 11002684
The advert for Kiroshi Opticals could also be a hint towards this.
View attachment 11002699
I don't know if the "AI ID"s mentioned here indicate anything, could just refer to what T-Bug used to hack V's cyberware

Well spoted!
 
Given that V has Cyberoptics, it's possible that Silverhand exists solely in his head/on the net.
View attachment 11002693
Silverhand goes partially transparent, which could be becasue of some cloaking device or because he's not really there.
View attachment 11002684
The advert for Kiroshi Opticals could also be a hint towards this.
View attachment 11002699
I don't know if the "AI ID"s mentioned here indicate anything, could just refer to what T-Bug used to hack V's cyberware


Yeah, I noticed that too, and was coming here to comment on it, but, I got beat to it.
Additionally, in consideration that Johnny Silverhand might, perhaps, maybe, possibly be a digital construct that isn't really there, just living inside V's head, I'm of the opinion that your character's choice of Childhood Hero could potentially influence WHO you see if this cinematic sequence is indeed part of the game, and/or this is an important gimmick as part of the main story line.

Childhood Hero Johnny Silverhand; you see Johnny Silverhand. Morgan Blackhand? You see him instead. Whoever you pick, you get that character's Force Ghost.

Further, Keanu Reeves could very well play the part of each character ... perhaps. We've seen that trick before in literature and some cinema where a wise master, always with the same face, but disguised, or even actually borrowing the body of a rando person who then temporary gets the wise master face and mannerism, shows up at various stages of a Hero's Journey to impart wisdom, guidance, warning, encouragement or something to get the hero moving in the right direction. I seem to recall Sucker Punch doing that with actor Scott Glenn's character playing several roles as a guidance character. Stan Lee, partially qualifies in his many various cameos in all the Marvel movies, though he doesn't ever effect or guide the main story.
It's a classic mechanic going all the way back to ancient Greek Theater giving a personified bodily presence to a moral impetus, will of the gods, fate, conscience, or some otherwise driving force acting on behalf of, and/or sometimes in conflict with a hero character. It's Obi-wan, Morpheus, and now, perhaps, it's a digital hallucination of Johnny Silverhand Mnemonic, Neo, Wick.

Of course, this is entirely conjecture and wild speculation. :)
Plus, it's a cinematic trailer, not actual gameplay? ... so, grains of salt and whatnot.
 
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As for the hologram:

My guess is that he got killed by this universes version of the Soulkiller programm.

Alt Cunningham is a Netrunner. She invented the beta version of Soulkiller, a program that would make a digital emulation or copy of a netrunner's mind. Saburo Arasaka kidnapped her, extracted the information from her, and made a more deadly version that would simultaneously fry the netrunner's mind after backing it up, allowing a Sysop to interrogate it at will. They then used it on Alt since she was of no further use to them, but her digital "ghost" broke free into the Net.

The other childhood heroes might show up in a similar fashion.
 
My guess is that he got killed by this universes version of the Soulkiller programm.

Its definitely an option that its the essence of Johnny who exists in digital form inside some kind of construct such as the chip in question. The way Dixie Pauley appears in the Neuromancer novel. Its been mentioned that Johnny should be dead by 2077 in-world. This method also allows him to appear as a younger version of himself, so he can be played by an actor such as Keanu.

Another possibility that I am entertaining is that its not REALLY Johnny, just an AI representation of him. The same way rogue AI WIntermute 'wears' other people's appearances in the Neuromancer novel, because Wintermute lacks one itself.

I am definitely intrigued by the appearance of Johnny's image alongside the guy with glowing eyes in the gameplay portion of the presentation. It more than a little implies Johnny is a "force ghost" of sorts that only V can see. Notice the line "Mr Hand sent me. Am I right for the job?"

ps. Pondsmith seems to have a strange fixation on hands.... xD
 
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I'll preface this by saying that I have no issues with Keanu Reeves. By all accounts, he's an angel.

But I've gotta say, I'm not a fan of them introducing such a big name into the game. It'd be one thing if it was just VO, but adding likeness as well? Completely immersion breaking, IMO. Last year, CDPR showed us that they can craft memorable, unique characters (Dum Dum, Dexter D., Stout, Jackie, Vic, etc.). Now when I come across Silverhand in the game, all I can see is Keanu Reeves.

My only hope at this point is that Silverhand plays a small role in the game.
It's the opposite. Gives even more immersion and plus, attention to the game. At the least to the majority of people (who will give most money to CDPR, me included).
 
I really don't know how I feel about this. I like keanu, but I really hope his character isn't following you everywhere you go. I think he's going to be someone only you as the character can see. Interesting, yes, but I think it could get annoying. I really hope I'm wrong.
 
Who they got to play the character makes 0 impact on what I am going to choose Eventually ill probably end up running them all anyway.
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I really don't know how I feel about this. I like keanu, but I really hope his character isn't following you everywhere you go. I think he's going to be someone only you as the character can see. Interesting, yes, but I think it could get annoying. I really hope I'm wrong.


Considering Johnny supposedly died in 2024 I could totally see it being like the Major in Ghost in the shell where she gave up entirely her physical body and her consciousness is just roaming the net. So he has been Dead but not really Dead this whole time. would also make sense if the trailer was the end of a tutorial quest and going to end up bad regardless of choices and he had saved us from being killed by pulling our consciousness out of that body across the net and put it in another body that had been discarded after the person died net running or something. (Likely? no not really but could totally see it being a possibility)
 
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Come now. He is about as perfect face to sell cyberpunk as you could order. Fresh off John Wick 3 that is in theaters and peoples minds right now. The person who played Neo in Matrix and actually played in a Cyberpunk movie "Johnny Mnemonic" based on a William Gibson story back in 1995. Keanu is no stranger to Cyberpunk.

That said, I chose the "I wont choose until I see all the options" option. Still, I gotta applaud whoever planned this presentation.

Agreed. This isn't CoD stuffing Kit Harrington into their half-assed campaign in a desperate attempt to be more relevant. Keanu is a tried and true champion of the sci-fi genre and seems to have a genuine passion for unique projects. I'm excited to see what he does with a role that does seem pretty perfect for him.

Besides, this is a big world. Even if Silverhand is a prominent NPC/ally, it's not like he's going to be the entire game. This is the perfect extra bit of PR the game needed, one that doesn't betray the narrative.
 
I like keanu, but I really hope his character isn't following you everywhere you go. Interesting, yes, but I think it could get annoying. I really hope I'm wrong.

Yeah, I get what you mean, I wouldn't want him overshadowing the other npcs and/or making comments on every single thing I do. My best guess is it'll be along the lines of Johnny/Keanu playing an important roll but not being there too often, mainly just at pivotal points; turning up before/after big decisions and dramatic events. I could easily be way-off, obviously.

If I'm wrong, if the game is as expansive and large as I think it will be, I'd imagine the amount of time he's around won't be intrusive anyway simply because there will be so many hours of exploration and questing, you know?

If we have 30+ hours main campaign and another 30+ hours side quests (or the 130-150 hours of W3!) then I doubt anyone will get Keanu fatigue simply because his presence will be diffused and evenly spread out.

As to the poll, I chose 'wait and see' but I'm liking the choice of Silverhand more now that Mr Reeves is the man himself :) Besides, I'll probably do 2-3 playthroughs, so I'm bound to pick him at some point.
 
Considering we're looking at a potentially 200+ hour game(by TW3 standards) and fact that Keanu will most probably be engaged just in the main story arc, I'd say there will be plenty of time without him. So I'm not too worried about this "Keanu fatigue" syndrome :)
 
In my mind I imagined Rutger Hauer as Morgan Blackhand.... if the man wasn't 75 years old and it shows. Could be a thread of its own... who would you like to see as the other childhood heroes

Ooo, Rutger, that's a fantastic idea! And his age doesn't matter, not if you can have a rejuvenated Lindsay Wagner in Death Stranding ;)
 
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