Although fans knew about Cyberpunk 2077 for 8 years before its eventual launch last December, the reveal of Johnny Silverhand being a crucial part of the upcoming experience wasn't revealed until June 2019. This was after Keanu Reeves was brought on stage at E3, revealing to the world that he had a starring role in CD Projekt Red's recent sci-fi RPG.
Thanks to some new concept art, fans can now see what the character was originally envisioned to look like long before he made his grand debut at the showcase, with concept artist and coordinator at CD Projekt Red, Lea Leonowicz, sharing it on ArtStation. The new look at the character seems to be at a time before Keanu Reeves' likeness was added to Silverhand, showcasing an aging rockstar with long, scraggly hair that's beginning to recede.
The two renditions of the character shown depict Silverhand with and without his top. The former's attire looks very similar to the one seen in the full release, with Jonny sporting the same armored vest, dog tags, and red sunglasses as his in-game counterpart. The topless version shows that this take on Silverhand is heavily scarred and tattooed, while his robotic arm has a metallic shard that expands up his shoulder and onto his torso.
The arm is slightly different from its full-release look too, sporting what appears to be a spur on the elbow. It also looks to be slightly more intact than the version from the final game, with that iteration of Silverhand's arm featuring more exposed wiring at the joints.
It's definitely interesting to see what Silverhand could've looked like if the team had pursued a different direction or if Reeves hadn't portrayed him in the game. For those who haven't been keeping up with the news surrounding Cyberpunk 2077, the game released last month with a handful of launch issues, including severe bugs and crashes on console versions of the game.
With that in mind, however, many have still praised the expansive science fiction title and its story, with it following a crook named V and their partner Jackie getting in way over their heads after they're hired to steal a state of the art microchip. The heist leaves V with no choice but to insert the chip into their brain, seeing his conscience meld with that of Johnny Silverhand, a former rockstar and freedom fighter who has a long-standing grudge against shady megacorporation Arasaka. The pair then team up to figure out why Silverhand's conscience is on the chip and why Arasaka is so desperate to get it back.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One. Next-gen versions will become available later this year.
Source: ArtStation - Lea Leonowicz