Cyberpunk Is Going Full Edgerunners: Paramount's Movie Gets an Original Story as Edgerunners 2 Hits Netflix Oct 20
Paramount's live action Cyberpunk movie won't retell V's story. CD Projekt Red says it's an original Night City tale, just like Edgerunners. And Edgerunners 2 hits Netflix October 20.
Two pieces of Cyberpunk news landed right on top of each other this week, and together they tell you exactly where CD Projekt Red is taking this franchise.
First, CDPR confirmed that Paramount's live action Cyberpunk movie will not be a 1:1 retelling of Cyberpunk 2077. No V. No Johnny Silverhand. Instead, it's an original story set in Night City. Second, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 premieres on Netflix on Tuesday, October 20, and it's doing the same thing: a brand new crew, a brand new story, the same city that chews people up.
I'll be honest. Part of me would have loved to see V and Johnny on the big screen. But the more I think about it, the more this feels like the right call. The Cyberpunk universe has way more to offer, and a lot more stories that haven't been told yet.
The Movie: An Original Story, Not the Game
CDPR co-CEO Michał Nowakowski confirmed in an interview with Polish outlet PAP Biznes that the Paramount film will tell a new story within the Cyberpunk universe rather than adapting the plot of Cyberpunk 2077.
Here's what we know so far:
| Studio | Paramount Pictures, with CD Projekt Red |
| Producer | Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, G.I. Joe) |
| Story | Original, set in Night City |
| Director / Writer / Cast | None announced yet |
| Release date | None yet. It's still early in development |
Why not just adapt the game?
Because in Cyberpunk 2077, you are V. Every player built their own V, made their own choices, and saw their own ending. A movie that locks in one "official" V risks telling millions of players that their version was wrong. An original story sidesteps that completely and leaves the game's story where it belongs: in the hands of the people who played it.
The obvious downside is that Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand in live action would have been a moment. But if the choice is between a safe retelling and something new that actually feels like Night City, I'll take new.
The Blueprint: Edgerunners
This approach isn't a gamble. CDPR has already proven it works.
When Cyberpunk: Edgerunners dropped on Netflix in 2022, it told a completely original story: David Martinez, Lucy, Maine's crew, and one of the most gut punching endings in recent anime. It didn't follow V at all. And it worked so well that it pulled a huge wave of people back to Cyberpunk 2077, helped change how people talked about a game that had a famously rough launch, and won Anime of the Year at the 2023 Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
I watched season 1 and enjoyed it very much. It's the proof that you don't need the main character of the game to capture what makes Night City special. You need people with big dreams in a city built to crush them.
The way I see it, CDPR clearly sees anime as the front door to this franchise. Edgerunners brought in viewers who had never touched the game, and now the movie is being built the same way.
Edgerunners 2: What to Know Before Tuesday
| Premiere | Tuesday, October 20, 2026 |
| Where | Netflix |
| Episodes | 10 |
| Studio | Studio Trigger, with CD Projekt Red |
| Director | Kai Ikarashi (Little Witch Academia, SSSS.Gridman) |
| Showrunner | Bartosz Sztybor (returning) |
| Lead character design | Ichigo Kanno (returning) |
A new crew, not David's story
Edgerunners 2 is a standalone story. The creators chose not to continue David's arc, out of respect for how season 1 ended. Instead, we meet a new squad:
- Roman Carax, an aspiring filmmaker documenting the legends of Night City
- Talia Yang, a fighter and mechanic
- D., a netrunner
- Weak "King" Kingsley, a veteran edgerunner and the crew's heavy hitter
The showrunner has said the new season keeps the same intense, melancholic tone as the first. Translation: bring tissues again.
Our Take
Would I have loved V and Johnny in live action? Absolutely. But Night City is bigger than one merc and one rockerboy ghost. Edgerunners showed that the best Cyberpunk stories can come from anywhere in that city, and if the movie and Edgerunners 2 follow that lead, this franchise has a lot of life left in it.
Edgerunners 2 hits Netflix on Tuesday, October 20. We'll be watching.
Are you okay with an original story for the movie, or did you want V and Johnny? Let us know on Instagram.
