What Has Ryan Reynolds Done to Our Precious Joe Keery?

The strangest thing of all? Joe Keery's moustache.

We were personally relieved to see Joe Keery get the most screen time yet as ex-jerk/lovable doof Steve Harrington in the third season of Stranger Things on Netflix.

We were even more relieved (mild spoiler alert) that he actually survived to the end of it, all while wearing his Scoops Ahoy sailor outfit.

But Joe SZN didn’t stop there. Last Friday, he dropped his breezy first single under the moniker Djo, titled "Roddy". It’s no cover of "Never Ending Story", but it’ll more than do.

All of this is to say, everything seemed to be coming up Keery.

Until today, when Ryan Reynolds posted a photo of the two of them from the set of their upcoming film Free Guy.

So, there is a lot to unpack here. First, the moustache, hinted at on the cover art for the single to "Roddy", but now unveiled in full. Second, there’s the slicked-back hair. And third, there is the hint of an earring, which upon closer inspection is actually just a sliver of sky appearing to dangle from his left lobe. Thank goodness, because that combination would have been a lot.

As a reminder, here’s how he looked back in June when he arrived on set.

And, once more, how he appeared when they finally called cut.

A description of the film will maybe help. The picture is set inside an open-world video game a’la Grand Theft Auto, in which Reynolds’ character discovers he’s just a non-playable character.

Based on the jacket he's sporting over his shoulder in the pic with Reynolds, Keery appears to be playing a cop.

The good news is that, as he’s demonstrated over three seasons of Stranger Things, Keery is actually a deft comic actor, and clearly one who’s willing to break free of the pretty-boy roles for which he may have initially been typecast. If a new 'do and moustache is what’s required to get him the recognition and roles he deserves, well, it’s a price we as a society must be willing to pay.

Free Guy, directed by Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy, hits cinemas in 2020.

Header Image: Instagram (@vancityreynolds) & Netflix