INSIDER
Entertainment & Arts
The Matrix 4: What could happen
in the 2022 sequel?
In late August it was announced that the popular action film series, The Matrix, will be returning with a fourth film with
Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss set to return to the series with Reeves reprising his role as Neo. However, Laurence
Fishburne, actor of character Morpheus, has not been confirmed as a return so far. It will also see original co-creator Lana
Wachowski return to write, produce and direct the third sequel since the original release in 1999 and the first two sequels both
released in 2003. (Spoilers for original trilogy ahead)
Warner Brothers Pictures
Group chairman Toby Em-
merich announced the film,
quoting the studio “Could not
be more excited” to announce
the return of the franchise and
the continuation of the series
loved by many. Emmerich
also described Wachowski as
a “true visionary” and he was
“thrilled” to have her in-
volved with this new chapter.
The motion picture is ru-
moured to start filming next
year with the earliest release
suggested to be around 2022.
With the trilogy seemingly
concluded in the 2003 sequel,
The Matrix Revolutions,
where Neo brokers a peace
deal between the humans on
the last human city of Zion
and the artificial intelligence
machines that dominate the
rest of Planet Earth to combat
the rogue programme Agent
Smith who had become a vi-
rus and mutual enemy of both
sides, at the sacrifice of his
own life. It allowed peace in
the real world and The Matrix
to be rebooted with the condi-
tions of human enslavement
no longer an issue; it also
allowed humans to opt out of
The Matrix if they so wished.
So, with Neo dead, it was
hard to see a sequel with the
same characters involved,
however, at the end of Revo-
lutions, The Architect and
The Oracle have a discussion
which hints at a sequel with
the topic of how long the
peace between man and machine
could last. The Oracle also quotes
when asked if Neo would be seen
again, she responds, “I suspect so,
someday”. The issue of resurrect-
ing the two main roles will cer-
tainly be interesting to see.
The plot has been suggested to
take place many years into the
future of the original trilogy. This
could explain the exclusion of
Morpheus who could well have
naturally passed away by the time
of the next film instalment. One
theory suggests, both Neo and
Trinity had backups of their con-
science as code in the Matrix
physically stored somewhere in
the real world on Zion. If the
peace between man and machine
was to breakdown as The Oracle
Keanu
Reeves in The
Matrix (1999)
Image: IMdB
“Neo and
Trinity have
backups of
their con-
science as
code in the
Matrix phys-
ically stored
somewhere
in Zion”
implied, then Neo and Trin-
ity could be restored into
The Matrix with new life
vessels similar to how
Agent Smith came back in
The Matrix Reloaded. It
would also allow Neo and
Trinity to return to the real
world in new vessels which
we also saw Agent Smith
do when he used Bane’s
dead body as a vessel for
his conscience to cause
havoc in the real world as
well as in The Matrix. If
both bodies were stored as
well as both of their origi-
nal consciences, then this
could very well be a possi-
bility to help battle any mil-
itary resurgence of the intel-
ligent machines.
Something else that is very
exciting about The Matrix 4
will be the filmmaking it-
self, particularly with the
staggering technological
advances over the past six-
teen years since the 2003
sequels. Whilst the special
effects of the originals
haven’t aged as badly as
they could have, it is notice-
able you are watching a late
nighties/early noughties sci-
fi action film so hopefully
some major improvements
on the originals can be
made in that respect.
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