Everything Keanu Reeves Has Said About Being Cast In The MCU

Of all the big names the Marvel Cinematic Universe has yet to add to its diverse roster of recognizable names, Keanu Reeves remains one of the most tantalizing and elusive prospects, having made multiple statements regarding his possible involvement over the years. From The Matrix to the John Wick movies to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Keanu Reeves is a well-versed actor with years of experience playing recurring roles in long-running franchises. As a result, the action movie star would be a no-brainer for the MCU to cast as a touchstone superhero.

While there’s no denying that Reeves would be fantastic in a Marvel role, the reality of his own thoughts on the matter have consistently put him just out of Marvel Studios reach for multiple films. Reeves has had seemingly fluctuating feelings on the matter of taking up the mantle of one of the MCU’s heroes, expressing equal measures of excitement and trepidation. Although Reeves has directly named famous Marvel characters the MCU has yet to cast that he would be interested in playing, his many statements about the franchise over the years have yet to result in a definitive collaboration.

6
Keanu Reeves Has Addressed Casting Rumors In The Past

The demand to see Reeves as a Marvel superhero role has gotten away from him before

Keanu Reeves isn’t a total stranger to the superhero genre, playing the cynical chain-smoking magician Constantine in the 2005 film of the same name as well as lending his voice as Batman in the animated film DC League of Super-Pets. Unfortunately, he has still continued to dodge a Marvel casting, though rumors of his appearance in recent Marvel projects continued to swirl as recently as 2021. After Marvel Studios took to Twitter (via Hadeed Butt) to wish Reeves a happy 57th birthday, this speculation reached a fever pitch.

In a video with Esquire in 2021, Reeves was directly confronted with questions of Marvel casting rumors, prompting an interesting response. Reeves was sure to praise the impressive work of the many creatives within Marvel Studios, calling the series more of a “Marvel-verse” than a single cinematic universe, expressing an appreciation for the scale and consistent quality the franchise was able to construct. Keanu Reeves’ early response to MCU casting rumors ultimately did little to clarify his personal position on appearing in a Marvel film:

5
Keanu Reeves Responded To Being Fancast As Doctor Strange

Along with some prescient musings on the state of MCU contracts

Long before Benedict Cumberbatch comfortably shouldered the Cloak of Levitation, Keanu Reeves was among the names fans clamored to take up the role of Doctor Strange in the MCU. It’s hard to say how Reeves would’ve stacked up to Cumberbatch’s excellent run as the Sorcerer Supreme, but the prospect of Reeves as the arcane hero was undeniably exciting. While the overlap between Doctor Strange and the first John Wick film likely made the prospect impossible anyway, Reeves did relinquish his thoughts on the matter as early as 2014. In an interview chronicled on Collider, Reeves made the following statement:

Not only did Reeves address the fan casting, but offered some prophetic reservations on the danger of MCU contracts. Marvel’s contracts have historically been a sore point in the studio’s relationship with its talent, although the MCU has since stopped requiring multi-movie contracts to be signed by onboarding actors. Regardless of Reeves’ premonition, the distinguished Toronto-raised actor expressed an undeniable enthusiasm for Marvel and comic book movies in general, despite admitting Doctor Strange in particular to be one of his superhero blind spots.

4
Keanu Reeves Has Met With Kevin Feige

The Matrix Star’s involvement of the MCU had at least entered the conceptual phase

As recently as 2019, Kevin Feige has admitted to meeting with Keanu Reeves regarding a possible role. Unfortunately, it seems as though this meeting had yet to yield concrete results, with Keanu Reeves later confirming the franchise director and himself weren’t able to come to an agreement on an appropriate role for Reeves to inhabit (via Comicbook.com). Still, it’s comforting to hear that the pair are in talks, and allegedly on good terms. Reeves referred to Kevin Feige as a “cool cat” in the same interview, indicating a friendly, if as-of-yet unproductive, professional relationship.

This most recent meeting was far from the only time Feige attempted to find a place in the MCU for Reeves, admitting that the studio reaches out to the actor “for almost every film we make” in 2019 (via Comicbook.com). The closest the John Wick superstar has seemed to come to entering the MCU in full was when Keanu Reeves nearly appeared in Captain Marvel as Yon-Rogg, one of the heroine’s earliest villains. Unfortunately, the timing of that film and the production of John Wick: Chapter 3 ultimately led to the role going to Jude Law instead.

3
Keanu Reeves Expressed Interest In Playing Wolverine

The iconic X-Man is at the top of Reeves’ Marvel wish-list

Wolverine is a favorite Marvel character of many fans, and Keanu Reeves appears to be among the masses of X-Men aficionados who can’t get enough of the gruff claw-wielding mutant. In a Reddit AMA promoting John Wick: Chapter 4, Keanu Reeves revealed he wanted to play Wolverine, pining after the role for a surprising amount of time. Now that the mutant mythos has finally changed hands from Fox Studios to the MCU, it could very well be that Reeves will get his wish at long last. That being said, following up Hugh Jackman’s iconic performance would be no easy task.

2
Keanu Reeves Was A Childhood Fan Of Ghost Rider

The John Wick star would be a fitting vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance

Another Marvel character with a cult following curiously absent from the MCU, Ghost Rider may just be the perfect home for Keanu Reeves in the series. Reeves addressed the possibility of playing Ghost Rider on an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, in which he guessed that his ten-year-old self would “probably want to be Ghost Rider.” Considering Keanu Reeves has a passionate love for motorcycling, even having his own motorcycle company, Ghost Rider would be a natural choice to finally find a place for him in the MCU.

1
Kevin Feige Is Insistent On Finding An MCU Role For Keanu Reeves

The head of Marvel Studios is committed to casting Reeves at some point

Keanu Reeves’ interest in joining the MCU has been fueled not only by his own statements, but those of the president of Marvel Studios himself, Kevin Feige. During an interview with Comicbook.com, Feige emphasized that while a role for Reeves had yet to be ironed out, “we very much want to figure out the right way to do it.“. The Marvel Cinematic Universe creative director went on to compare Reeves’ situation to that of Jake Gyllenhaal, who went through multiple rounds of talks with the studio before finally finding a home in the series as Mysterio.