35% Of Marvel Fans Would Want To See Keanu Reeves Play This Character In The MCU
For years, rumors have run rampant about Keanu Reeves possibly joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a superhero or villain — with the legendary action star and forever cool guy getting linked to multiple Marvel characters, including Ghost Rider and Silver Surfer. But what if comic book fans could get their way, and not the studio bigwigs? Which big name hero or baddie would people like to see Reeves play?
Well, Looper decided to take a poll asking over 560 readers who the best fit for Reeves would be in the MCU, given his amazing stunt work and iconic action roles, like John Wick and Neo from "The Matrix." Those who were surveyed were given six different choices — Black Bolt, Ghost Rider, Mephisto, Mister Sinister, Namor, and Silver Surfer — and were asked to select the character they most wanted to see Reeves play.
If there ever was a time for Marvel to bring in more A-list Hollywood names, after all, it's now. Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher has gotten a stunning response from audiences of "Thor: Love and Thunder," and Marvel's critically acclaimed castings of big-time movie stars Ethan Hawke and Oscar Isaac in the Disney+ series "Moon Knight" proved a massive success. Reeves, meanwhile, has already managed to cross over into a number of film genres in recent years, such as his voice roles in 2019's "Toy Story 4" and 2020's "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run," as well as the video game "Cyberpunk 2077."
So, doing a superhero movie wouldn't be a stretch by any means. It's only a matter of who Reeves will play, and fans have somebody fiery in mind.
35% of fans want to see Keanu Reeves play Ghost RIder
According to our Looper poll, 35% of Marvel fans want to see Keanu Reeves take up the mantle of Ghost Rider in a future MCU project. The next most popular choice for "The Matrix Resurrections" star to play is the Silver Surfer at 22%, and then Mephisto, with 15% of the vote. Sinister took nearly 12%, then there was Black Bolt, with Namor pulling last place (which is fine, because it seems extremely likely that the so-called Sub-Mariner is about to be played by a different actor, Tenoch Huerta, in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever").
Reeves has been one of the top fancasts for Ghost Rider for several years now, along with "The Walking Dead" actor Norman Reedus, following Nicolas Cage's infamous run as Johnny Blaze in 2007's "Ghost Rider" and "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance." A different incarnation of the character was also portrayed on television by actor Gabriel Luna, who took over as the mechanic Robbie Reyes in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"When the time comes for an MCU ghost rider...It better be either Norman Reedus or Keanu Reeves," wrote Twitter user @NewEraZach in a June 2022 tweet.
While nobody has been chosen just yet, Reeves confirmed in a December 2021 interview that he's officially met with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to discuss some MCU roles he could possibly play in the future. "We haven't [found one] yet," Reeves told Comic Book. "We have met, and [Feige]'s a cool cat. Yeah. But no, we don't have anything, gotta find something."