Now that The Matrix 4 has been made official, I’m sure I know how Star Wars fans felt when The Force Awakens arrived in theaters back in 2015. Granted, we’re talking about a mere announcement and not an actual opening weekend, but this is something I’ve been waiting to hear since 2003.
What especially made all this exciting was confirmation on both Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss returning to the franchise. I’ll explore what this may mean momentarily, but let’s first focus on aesthetics, shall we?
Most recently, digital artist iHasanKazi shared a piece on Instagram illustrating how Reeves may appear in a fourth Matrix flick. As you can see, the trench coat from the first movie’s infamous lobby scene has made a comeback, while the John Wick beard is carried over. Considering how Reeves has become synonymous with that facial hair these days, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he kept it for this role – and it may be appropriate because we don’t know which version of the One he’s playing.
On that note, it’s about time someone brought up how both Neo and Trinity are very much dead. When it comes to Neo, it’s expected that the One essentially reincarnate with each successive version of the Matrix, but how about Trinity? She’s merely a human and breathed her last breath in Revolutions.
Now, it could be argued that we may bear witness to a past or future version of the Matrix, but then we have to make mention of reports saying a younger Morpheus may be cast. If that’s the case, then there’s no way he could’ve interacted with another iteration of the One because, again, the prime program is reinserted whenever the Matrix reloads.
Suffice it to say, Lana Wachowski and her cohorts have a lot of questions to answer as The Matrix 4 begins taking shape. As Trinity was once quoted as saying, “It’s the question that drives us.” And at this point, it is, as Morpheus would describe it, “a splinter in your mind driving you mad.”