Are we witnessing some sort of Reeves-urgence?
Though it’s not like he ever really went away, it’s fair to say Keanu Reeves is currently on a bit of a hot streak. There’s the brilliant John Wick films, which could continue after the current third instalment, there’s his role in the upcoming Toy Story 4, a long-awaited return to the world of Bill and Ted, and the possibility of more Constantine films. Hell, there’s even a whole festival dedicated to the man.
It seems the 54-year-old actor is on a winning streak at the moment, so it’s no surprise one of the biggest studios want him in their universe, despite him reportedly turning down a role already.
Despite suggestions he could be the next Wolverine, it seems Marvel Studios have got their eyes on Reeves to join the cast for the upcoming film The Eternals.
The film is still relatively under wraps from the studio, though it is confirmed for release in 2020. It’s set to be directed by Chloé Zhao, and is rumoured to star Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and Kumail Nanjiani.
According to the fan site MCU Cosmic, negotiations between Reeves and the studio are well under way, though it’s not been confirmed what role he is being considered for.
Marvel producer Kevin Feige is already excited about The Eternals, as he sees a similar trajectory for it as another Marvel series.
He told ComicBook:
Your reaction about not being familiar with The Eternals is perfect, because most people weren’t familiar with Guardians [of the Galaxy] and believe it or not there were people that were not familiar with Avengers or with Iron Man.
So for us, its finding great stories whether people have heard of them or not and bring them to the big screen in as amazing a ways as we can.
In the MCU, the Eternals are a genetically-altered race of super-beings, the result of ‘Celestial experiments’, who live for thousands of years.
Feige added:
Eternals are one group, but we like the idea of introducing an ensemble, doing an ensemble movie from the start, as opposed to building up as we did with the first Avengers. More like Guardians, not tonally, but in terms of introducing a new group of people.
Sounds like it’s shaping up to have a pretty strong cast already!
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.