On an official level, we still know absolutely nothing about the fourth installment in The Matrix franchise, despite the fact Keanu Reeves will be returning to our screens as Neo for the first time in eighteen years in less than six months. However, recent speculation has doubled down on the sci-fi action blockbuster coming attached with the Resurrections subtitle, as well as offering up some hints as to the tone of the film.
However, some new plot details have purportedly arrived, and it would be an understatement to say it would be a bold and massively risky direction in which to take the mythology should it turn out to be right on the money. As per the rumor, The Matrix 4 won’t just wink at the audience, but let them in on the joke from the ground floor.
According to the details, Reeves’ Thomas Anderson will open the movie as a video game developer, working for a company that churned out a trilogy of console titles called The Matrix, but he’s refusing to make a new game for his employers, and those creative differences will factor into the first act of the narrative. Who does he work for, you may ask? A little company called Warner Bros.
If we pretend for a second that this is 100% definitely the direction The Matrix 4 was heading, then you can see why the early reactions to the test screening called it weird, meta and ambitious. If Lana Wachowski’s sequel does indeed position the protagonist as having worked on a video game franchise called The Matrix that’s looking to churn out a fourth installment, that’s a very tricky tonal balance to pull off without veering straight into self-indulgent territory. However, we don’t know for sure if this is the case, but the first footage is widely expected to arrive over the summer, so we might not have too long to wait to find out.