There’s been no shortage of theories making the rounds online, but so far, concrete plot details surrounding The Matrix 4 are virtually nonexistent. Keanu Reeves has admitted that director Lana Wachowski has crafted a beautiful love story and that it definitely isn’t a prequel, but beyond that, information is very thin on the ground.
Outside of Reeves’ Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss’ Trinity, there are only a handful of familiar faces returning for the fourth installment including Jada Pinkett Smith’s Niobe and Lambert Wilson’s The Merovingian, with Hugo Weaving unavailable to come back as Agent Smith and Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus not even invited to join the proceedings.
However, a new addition to the cast has now been announced and it’s one that ties The Matrix 4 even closer to the original trilogy. Daniel Bernhartd’s Agent Johnson has been confirmed for the hotly-anticipated sequel, having last been seen in Reloaded‘s phenomenal highway action scene before mysteriously vanishing for the rest of the franchise.
John Wick co-directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski are also back to assist with the fight choreography, and both have utilized Bernhardt in the recent past, with the actor and stuntman having appeared in Leitch’s Atomic Blonde and Hobbs & Shaw, while he was also drafted in for Stahelski’s Birds of Prey reshoots.
Besides keeping it in the family, the 55 year-old’s casting would seemingly confirm that the Agents are going to play a role in The Matrix 4‘s plot, although quite how they explain Johnson’s return without Smith’s involvement is anyone’s guess at this point. With production back underway after a lengthy hiatus due to the Coronavirus pandemic, though, more big news on the latest chapter in the franchise surely won’t be too far away.