Death Stranding: Hideo Kojima was recommended Keanu Reeves, but wanted Mads Mikkelsen
In 2019, the Year of Keanu, Kojima admits that he chose not to seek the beloved actor out for Death Stranding.
This news comes via a Twitter report from inside the San Diego Comic Con panel for Death Stranding, wherein Kojima and Drive director Nicolas Winding-Refn (who plays Heartman, a character who - I s**t you not - experiences heart failure every 21 minutes, goes to the afterlife for three minutes, and then comes back.
Wild. Anyway, one fan, Kalai_chik, was in the audience and live-tweeted proceedings. At one point, Kojima dropped a tidbit that is particularly resonant right now - he was recommended Keanu Reeves for his game, but really wanted to go with Mads Mikkelsen (presumably because Mikkelsen rules - have you seen Hannibal?)
Keanu, of course, is doing just fine, and still managed to make it into a huge game - he's all over Cyberpunk 2077.
The longer Twitter thread digs into some more details about the panel, although Kojima is still vague on the details. "You’re alone playing as Sam, you’re trying to connect city to city", he reportedly said. "I can’t speak much but everyone will be playing around the world and we’ll have an indirect connections."
They also unveiled the game's box art.
Death Stranding is out November 8, exclusively for PS4. If you didn't see the trailer yet, give it a look. It's wild.