USA Today reports actor Keanu Reeves is making his comic book debut with “BRZRKR,” a 12-issue maxiseries that will be published by BOOM! Studios from October. The comic, written by Reeves and Matt Kindt (“MIND MGMT”) with art by Alessandro Vitti (“Secret Warriors”), will tell the story of the Berzerker, a demigod warrior who currently carries out dangerous missions for the U.S. government, in exchange for their help uncovering the reason behind his existence.
Reeves pitched the comic to BOOM! last year, while discussing ideas they could develop for live-action projects together. He told USA Today, “I had this image in my head of a guy fighting through the ages because of his father’s compulsion to violence,” but also “trapped and trying to figure it out.” BOOM! editor-in-chief Matt Gagnon said, “Spend five minutes with Keanu and it becomes clear very quickly why he’s earned all the success he has. Exceptional creative instincts, deep reservoirs of wisdom on story, the ability to consistently tap into the raw emotion of a moment, relentless commitment to quality and the task at hand – it’s all this and much more that make Keanu an inspiring force.”
Kindt told the paper Reeves brought creativity to “the action and the backstory of the characters, and he’s been open to me inserting my fascination for history, conspiracies and espionage into the mix along with a fragmented narrative structure.” Reeves said he’s been “Skyping pretty regularly” with Kindt, while waiting in Berlin for The Matrix 4 to resume filming, and that he and Kindt delighted in designing the ultraviolent action sequences: “It’s like, ‘Yeah, I think it would be fun just to see him punch through someone’s chest or pull out a rib or rip an arm off,’ [The Berzerker] can heal to a certain extent, so it’s fun to have these kinds of outrageous consequences and still have the character kind of moving forward.”
For more insight from Reeves, Kindt, and Vitti (including whether there may be a Netflix adaptation in the works), as well as additional interior and cover art, head on over to USA Today. “BRZRKR” #1 will be released online and in comic book shops on October 7, 2020.
