Keanu Reeves on Comic Series BRZRKR and the Status of the Netflix Movie and Animated Series
716While you all know Keanu Reeves from his awesome work in countless movies, did you know he added something new to his resume: comic book writer. Earlier this year, Reeves and his co-writer Matt Kindt and artist Ron Garney released their new series BRZRKR (pronounced "berserker") through BOOM! Studios and it immediately became one of the biggest original comics of the 21st century. With the first four issues being released as a graphic novel tomorrow, I recently had the chance to speak with them about the making of the series.
Before going any further, if you aren’t familiar with BRZRKR, the 12-issue series is about a “man known only as B. who's half-mortal and half-God, cursed and compelled to violence...even at the sacrifice of his sanity. However, after wandering the world for centuries, B. may have finally found a refuge – working for the U.S. government to fight the battles too violent and too dangerous for anyone else. In exchange, B. will be granted the one thing he desires – the truth about his endless blood-soaked existence…and how to end it.”
During the wide-ranging interview, Reeves, Kindt and Garney talked about their very successful Kickstarter campaign, where they are in the writing and drawing of future issues, how long it takes Garney to draw the series, if they figured out the entire storyline before writing the first issue, how much of the character they have figured out, another comic book series they’d recommend, and more.
In addition, with Netflix having optioned the series for a live-action film adaptation that Reeves is set to both produce and star in, and shortly thereafter, voice the character in a BRZRKR anime spinoff series that will also stream on Netflix, I asked about the status of both adaptions. Reeves told me that Mattson Tomlin (writer of Project Power and one of the writers on The Batman) has been hired to write the live-action movie and it’s in the early stages of development. He also talked about the animated series. Here’s exactly what he said:
“We’re working with Netflix who have been very cool. They’re going to let us do an R-rated story which is cool. My ambition or hope is not to do a filmed version of the comic book so that they’ll have things in common, definitely the main character and his kind of rule set, but that we can take it to other places as well. We’re talking to a couple of different animation companies and trying to figure that out. And, again, for me I’m hoping to be inspired and influenced…there are some rules to the story, but I also want other creators to do their version of it. So I’m hoping to do a different version of a metaverse where in the sense having different storytellers with one set of rules but go other places with it. We’re working on trying to set up a company with the animation and we’ve hired a writer for the film Mattson Tomlin. He’s been cool and just starting to put things together. That’s where we’re at.”
While there are plenty of comics to read, if the idea of seeing BRZRKR make a man's head explode with a single punch, and then murder another man by stabbing him with a chunk of his own ribcage sounds good to you, you should probably pick up the graphic novel when it hits stores tomorrow. It’s a cool series that’s worth your time.
Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt and Ron Garney
How did the Kickstarter thing come about and how much did they hope to make?
What is a comic book or graphic novel they want to recommend to a comic book newbie to check out?
Where are they in the writing and drawing of the comic?
How much of the entire storyline had they figured out before writing the first issue? Do they know the end game?
How long does it take for Garney to draw a page?
What is the status of the BRZRKR feature film and animated series?
#KeanuReeves #BRZRKR #MattKindt #RonGarney
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