The good news is that Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss will reprise their roles as Neo and Trinity in the upcoming fourth Matrix film. In addition, the title of the picture has been revealed as Matrix: Resurrections, according to a CinemaCon panel earlier this week. The unfortunate news is that Laurence Fishburne will not reprise his role as Morpheus.
While we won’t see Morpheus from the original trilogy, the first complete teaser for Matrix: Resurrections emerged Thursday morning, showing a very John Wick-like Keanu Reeves. Here’s everything we know so far about the film, including tidbits from the first trailer.
Who is Involved?
Along with Reeves and Moss, the core cast also remained the same. Abdul-Mateen is believed to play a young Morpheus in the forthcoming film.
Who is Responsible for It?
Making another Matrix film would be impossible without the collaboration of one of the minds behind the first trilogy. Lana Wachowski, who co-directed the previous three Matrix films with her sister Lilly, will write and direct Matrix: Resurrections.
In a statement, Warner Bros. Picture Group chairman Toby Emmerich said, “We couldn’t be more delighted to be re-entering The Matrix with Lana.” “Lana is a true visionary—a unique and original creative filmmaker—and we are thrilled that she is writing, directing, and producing this next installment in the ‘Matrix’ universe”.
Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell co-wrote the script, as did Lana Wachowski, who co-wrote and directed the original trilogy with her sister, Lilly. If you’re wondering why Lilly isn’t on the show, she recently discussed her decision not to participate in Matrix: Resurrections during a Television Critics Association Summer Tour virtual panel:
“[Lana] had this concept for another Matrix movie, and we had this conversation, and it was actually—we started talking about it between [our] dad dying and [our] mom dying, which were about five weeks apart. And there was something extremely unappealing about the thought of returning back in time and becoming a part of something I had done before. And I didn’t want to go back to something I’d done previously, and sort of go over old emotional roads, after going through my family loss transition.”
So, what could Matrix: Resurrections be about after all these years, and what does the new trailer reveal?
The global box office total for the Matrix trilogy, which completed in 2003 with Matrix Revolutions, is $1.6 billion. The trilogy concluded with a truce between humans and machines, allowing people to leave the Matrix entirely. However, both Neo and Trinity are killed in the end film, Trinity in a hovercraft crash and Neo after his struggle with Agent Smith. Though Neo is suggested to return at the conclusion, it’s unclear how both Reeves and Moss will reprise their roles in a sequel.
The trailer, on the other hand, reveals a little more about what we may expect from Matrix: Resurrections. Apparently, Neo is confined in a dreary existence in a near-future San Francisco, similar to the beginning of The Matrix. When he runs into Trinity in a cafe, she says, “Have we met?” The clip cuts to several acts from the Matrix action sequences. Dodging, twisting, karate, you name it. The teaser makes it obvious that Neo is pulled back into the Matrix in some way, but it doesn’t explain why or how Neo realizes he’s the version of himself shown in the original trilogy. Instead, we get a few references to Alice in Wonderland.
“Many of the ideas Lilly and I discussed about our world 20 years ago are much more pertinent now.” When Matrix 4 was announced, Wachowski commented, “I’m overjoyed to have these characters back in my life and glad for another opportunity to collaborate with my lovely friends.”
When filming on the film officially began in February 2020, some set images of Reeves surfaced, which appear to match the trailer’s description.
This isn’t the smooth, godlike Neo we’re used to seeing. In fact, he appears to be in worse condition than the faceless cubicle drone he was at the start of the first Matrix. What occurred when Neo passed away? Is it conceivable that his consciousness was re-entered into the Matrix after the war-ending agreement with the robots? Is he now just another regular-ass dude in the Matrix, unaware of who or what he is or the truth of the world?
When will Matrix 4 be released?
The official release date of Matrix 4 was set for May 21, 2021 by Warner Bros., but like so many other films, it has since been pushed back owing to the COVID-19 epidemic. It will now be released on December 22, 2022.