Idris Elba will join Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077’s first DLC

Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a big new star, with Idris Elba joining the cast for the game’s Phantom Liberty DLC.

The World Premier trailer for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, the game’s first DLC, starts with Keanu Reeves giving a speech as Johnny Silverhand. It’s very dramatic,

It also unveils Idris Elba’s character, Solomon Reeve. It’s not yet known what role he’ll play in the story, but you can get your eyes on his first appearance in the Cyberpunk universe below.

It’s the biggest role for Elba in video games so far. He was previously in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and LEGO Marvel Avengers, in addition to a turn in NBA 2K20 as Coach Ernie Ames. Here he seems to be taking a central role.

It’s unusual to see Cyberpunk 2077 out promoting itself, but it caps off a few months that have seen public opinion change on the once-troubled roleplaying game. Cyberpunk 2077 has seen itself recently in something of a renaissance after a launch that saw it pulled from sale on the PlayStation by Sony while scores of players refunded their purchases of a game that was full of bugs, flaws and unusual design choices.

Now, especially after the release of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the game has seen itself getting a huge boost to player numbers, with the developers claiming the game got a “second chance” in September.

In NME‘s 4-star review, Tom Regan said: “Thanks to the freedom afforded by its richly crafted dialogue choices, its consistently brilliant voice acting and the sharp script, Cyberpunk excels as a narrative-driven video game.” This should give you hope for the narrative chops of the DLC.

There’s no date yet for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, but it’s coming sometime in 2023 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.