Keanu Reeves helped to ignite the imaginations of millions with his role in the seminal science fiction movie The Matrix. Stringing together concepts and influences from across the sci-fi genre, The Matrix made us all think twice about our notions of reality… at least whenever you see a black cat, or get an instance of déjà vu.
But, while Keanu Reeves might not believe in the conspiracy theory that we’re all living in a simulation, he does prescribe to at least one outlandish idea: Shakespeare didn’t actually write his own plays, and he wants to travel back in time to uncover the truth. You could imagine it being the plot of one of his best science fiction movies, but here’s what Reeves said on the subject, speaking with Buzzfeed. “I’ve always wanted to know since I was growing up, who really wrote the plays of Shakespeare.”
The idea that Shakespeare might not have actually written his own plays is a relatively fringe idea, but one that is well-known in the mainstream. The theory proposes that Shakespeare was used as a front for other authors to write under the name of, giving them more freedom. For example, some subscribers to the theory believe that Doctor Faustus author Christopher Marlowe was actually responsible for many of the collected works of Shakespeare.
“So I want to be there at that moment when Shakespeare [wrote his works],” continued Reeves. “Because I don’t think it was really Shakespeare… So I’d like to [time travel] to 1600s [and see] Shakespeare writing Hamlet.”
Of course, some of the best Keanu Reeves movies have already featured time travel (the Bill and Ted series), but we can’t help but think that this is crying out to become the plot for some kind of new movie from the actor.
Reeves as a time-traveling investigator who goes back in time to unlock the mysteries of Shakespeare, and unravel a grand conspiracy? Say no more, we’re sold. It’d be a nice change of pace for the actor, too, who’s been busy beating up bad guys as John Wick for a decade now.
There’s just one potential hitch in the plan: it might necessitate Reeves having to do an English accent, and we all know how that went down with his role in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Badly. Still, even that could be part of the plot. It’d make sense for a time-traveling investigator going back to England in the 1600s to do a not-very-good accent, wouldn’t it?
Perhaps, though, we’re just getting too ahead of ourselves here. We’d be more than happy for some positive news on Keanu Reeves’ return for the Constantine 2 release date, or maybe even John Wick 5, somehow? Whatever happens, we firmly believe his best movies are still ahead of him.