When it comes to fantasy casting for Star Wars, Keanu Reeves is pretty much at the top of the wanted list. Now, after years of fans imagining “what if,” fantasy could become reality as The Matrix and John Wick star is rumored to be adding the biggest franchise of them all to his impressive résumé.
Let’s underline the word “rumored” here. As far as Star Wars sources go, Mike Zeroh has a mixed reputation. The self-styled Disney and Star Wars “leaker” has built a following on YouTube for revealing supposed secrets from deep inside the mysterious Star Wars production office. However, many consider his information to be a case of throwing everything at the wall and hoping something might stick. Yet there is no doubt that he has a voice in the fandom, and his claims about Keanu Reeves have certainly gotten people talking.
According to Zeroh, Reeves is set to star in one of the many new Star Wars projects coming to Disney+ as King Valar, a Sith monarch from The Old Republic. This series would take place 3,000 years before The Phantom Menace. Zeroh adds that the character will be first introduced in a live-action-style animated series that will launch on Disney+ in 2023 before featuring in a live-action trilogy, also starring Reeves. “ are using the animated TV series to introduce King Valar to the fandom, and Keanu Reeves is said to be doing the voice-over work for that character in the beginning stages,” Zeroh said.
The animation for the series is said to be unique and unlike anything audiences will have seen before. Zeroh claims that it will be in “a lifelike style, a video game-style” and compared it to the look of Star Wars: Battlefront, the hit video game from Electronic Arts.
Is Keanu Reeves in A Knights of the Old Republic movie?
The Knights of the Old Republic franchise was arguably the most popular of all the original Star Wars Expanded Universe projects, with the top-rated comic book series spawning books, toys, and three of the best Star Wars games of all time: Knights of the Old Republic, The Sith Lords, and The Old Republic.
The Rise of Skywalker hadn’t even hit cinemas when news outlets began to report that a Knights of the Old Republic film was in the works, with Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss said to be at the helm. Since then, the project has been on and off after Benioff and Weiss left the franchise, with varying rumors saying that there will be a single film, a trilogy, or a TV series. In 2020, Screenrant reported that Disney was working on both a movie and a TV show. Almost exactly a year later, Keanu Reeves and Star Wars would become linked when a series of fan images went viral with Reeves portrayed as Knights of the Old Republic character Darth Revan.
The rumors would tie in with the claims from Zeroh that Disney wants to explore the darker side of the Force. Per Zeroh, The Mandalorian showrunner Dave Filoni would be “handling much of the deep lore.” The YouTuber adds that the series will be mainly set on the legendary Sith homeward of Exogol and will “unveil new ancient secrets about the dark side of the Force.”
However, Knights of the Old Republic was not one of the new projects revealed by Disney late last year, and with a questionable source, fans shouldn’t get their hopes up. However, with many Star Wars fans having a bad taste in the mouth following the sequels, a fan-pleasing Knights of the Old Republic trilogy would certainly reinvigorate enthusiasm for the franchise on the big screen. Roping in a star like Keanu Reeves certainly wouldn’t hurt things either.
No matter what happens, the Knights of the Old Republic rumors undoubtedly probably going to go away any time soon. But who would you like to see cast? Do you want Revan, or does “King Valar” intrigue you more? Or maybe they’re the same person? Sound off in the comments!
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h/t The Verge