We are one month away from being able to return to the source and in a recent interview, co-writer of the upcoming film The Matrix Resurrections David Mitchell gave a hint at what fans should and shouldn't expect when they jack back into The Matrix.
Typically when a film returns from a near 20-year hiatus, there tends to be a lean into the familiar; old characters fighting newer versions of previous threats a la Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, as Mitchell puts it, Resurrections is anything but a retread of the old, but rather an exploration of the old with a strange and beautiful twist that will subvert the genre and expectations:
“I saw the film in Berlin in September. It’s really good. I cannot tell you what this film is about, but I could explain what it is not. It’s certainly not yet one more sequel, but something autonomous that contains however the three Matrix that preceded in a really ingenious way. It’s a very beautiful and weird creation. It also achieves a couple of things that we do not see in action films, meaning it subverts the rules of blockbusters.”
So what can we expect when the film is released on December 22? Collider previously reported that this new entry into the franchise could be a new iteration of the Matrix that Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) has to, once again, get himself out of. As many remember, Neo (Reeves) met with the Architect of the Matrix (Helmut Bakaitis) at the end of The Matrix Reloaded. It was here that we learned that there had been five previous iterations of the Matrix, all designed with "The One" who would return to the source of the programming and, in order to save humanity, would reboot the Matrix and start all over. Neo was the first in the history of the Matrix to choose love over a restart and still manage to save the last survivors of humanity in Zion.
Yet, despite the victory over the machines at the end of The Matrix Revolutions, there was still an ominous encounter between The Architect and the Oracle (Mary Alice) as they agree to peace, but only "for as long as it lasts." A warning that would seem to indicate that the machines will provide a false sense of peace to the humans, but will devise a way to lord over them again.
There seems to be evidence that supports the idea that this is a new version of the Matrix, as Neo is reintroduced and reunited with Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss), but, as the trailer alludes to, Neo is the only one experiencing a deja vù feeling when reconnecting with Trinity. While there are reportedly other familiar faces who are returning to the film like Jada Pinkett Smith, Lambert Wilson, and Daniel Bernhardt, there is one name that is noticeably absent: Laurence Fishburne. Yet that doesn't mean Morpheus isn't returning, as it's been reported that Aquaman and Watchmen star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will take on the iconic character for Resurrections, but that this version of Morpheus will be a "different iteration of the character."
Directed and co-written by Lana Wachowski, The Matrix Resurrections also stars Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff, Eréndira Ibarra, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, Telma Hopkins, and Max Riemelt. The film will premiere simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22. You can read an official synopsis below:
In a world of two realities—everyday life and what lies behind it—Thomas Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more. Choice, while an illusion, is still the only way in or out of the Matrix, which is stronger, more secure and more dangerous than ever before.