Cyberpunk 2077 Keanu Reeves / We Have a City to Burn

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About

Cyberpunk 2077 Keanu Reeves refers to character Johnny Silverhand of the 2020 role-playing video game Cyberpunk 2077, played by actor Keanu Reeves. Following the release of the trailer for the game at the Microsoft’s Xbox E3 2019 press conference, multiple memes referencing the actor's appearance in the game and his conference presentation were posted online, including You're Breathtaking and We Have a City to Burn meme formats.

Origin

On June 9th, 2019, game publisher and developer CD Projekt Red revealed the trailer for its upcoming role-playing video game Cyberpunk 2077 at the Microsoft's Xbox E3 2019 press conference.^[1] In the trailer, character Johnny Silverhand, portrayed by actor Keanu Reeves, was introduced (shown below, left). Additionally, Keanu Reeves presented the game on stage at the conference (shown below, right), announcing its release date.

Wake the fuck up, Samurai. We have a city to burn.

Spread

In the hours following the release of the trailer, multiple memes referencing the character and the Keanu Reeves' presentation at the conference appeared on Reddit, 4chan, Twitter and other online platforms. For example, June 9th, 2019, Redditor kermitTF2 posted a screenshot of the scene to /r/gaming subreddit, with the post gaining over 40,300 upvotes in 15 hours (shown below, left).^[2] On the same day, Redditor ELHazenNEU posted a meme based on the quote from the trailer to /r/dankmemes subreddit, gaining over 68,200 upvotes in 13 hours.^[3]

On the same day, /r/GamingCirclejerk subreddit changed its CSS theme to reflect the trend, with multiple circlejerk memes submitted by users (shown below, left and right).^[4]

We Have a City to Burn

We Have a City to Burn refers to a memorable quote by Cyberpunk 2077 character Johnny Silverhand, portrayed by Keanu Reeves, which appeared in the trailer of the game. Following the premiere of the trailer, an image macro based on the quote gained popularity as a meme format (example shown below).^[5]

You're Breathtaking

You're Breathtaking is a phrase shouted by a Microsoft Xbox E3 press conference attendee Peter Sark during Keanu Reeves' Cyberpunk 2077 presentation, with Keanu Reeves calling him and everyone in the audience "breathtaking" in response.

- Let me tell you. The feeling of being there, of walking the streets of the future is going to be breathtaking!
- You're breathtaking!
- You're breathtaking! You're all breathtaking!

Following the presentation, Peter Sark tweeted the video of the exchange, with the tweet receiving over 5,000 retweets and 17,400 likes in 20 hours.^[8] Additionally, memes referencing the exchange were posted online (examples shown below).^[9]

On June 10th, 2019, the official Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter account promised a free Collector's Edition copy of the game to the fan.^[10]

Check This Out

Check This Out refers to a quote said by actor Keanu Reeves during the presentation of role-playing video game Cyberpunk 2077 at the Microsoft's Xbox E3 2019 press conference. Following the presentation, two-panel memes featuring the actor pointing at the screen have been circulated online (examples shown below).^[6]^[7]