To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original film, the third sequel was officially announced on 20 August 2019. The word is out, and is official; a new incarnation of The Matrix is almost upon us. But what do we know so far about The Matrix 4?

It’s been twenty years went by since the first Matrix movie shocked the world. Although it seems it was yesterday when we first saw Neo dodging bullets, the trilogy ended 17 years ago, in 2003.

Two decades ago, The Matrix changed the cinematic world forever; can Lana Wachowski do it again with Matrix 4? We are about to go deep into gossip and try to make some conclusions. Fasten the seatbelt and hold on tight, we’re in for a ride.

The cast

The official news is that part of the legendary cast that made The Matrix such a blockbuster ($1.6bn so far) is back in the game. So far, these are the confirmed names:

Neo – Keanu Reeves is going for his old role as ‘The One’. According to his own social media, and some leaked photos of the set in San Francisco, he is a long-haired, bearded version of himself.

Trinity – Kate Ann Moss is also going to be back in the cast playing her legendary role. Although we saw her death during Matrix Revolutions, she is going to be one of the main characters for Matrix 4.

The Merovingian – Lambert Wilson, AKA The Merovingian from Matrix Reloaded is back in the cast. Will Monica Bellucci appear as well? Nothing confirmed yet.

Niobe – Jada Pinkett Smith is also back in her role as Niobe, the rebel present in both, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions.

Agent Johnson – Daniel Bernhardt, who played Agent Johnson in previous versions, is confirmed to be back in the cast reprising his role.

Who’s missing?

So far, these are the confirmed characters with known, familiar faces. But what about other classic characters such as Morpheus, or agent Smith? Lawrence Fishburne told New York Magazine, he had not been invited to join the action this time but gives his blessing to the project. About Agent Smith, actor Hugo Weaving confirmed that although Lana Wachowski approached him. Still, some schedule problems will keep him away from the project.

On one hand, the familiar faces, on the other, the big absences. What’s the icing on the cake? The added stars. Lana Wachowski brought to the Matrix realm some of the big names that worked with her in Cloud Atlas, Sense8, and more. Let’s take a look at who’s onboard so far.

New faces

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – The rising star from Watchmen and Aquaman is a confirmed member of the cast as well. Will he be playing young Morpheus? That’s what most gossip goes for.

Neil Patrick Harris – Perhaps the biggest surprise is the How I met your mother star who claimed was on board for a significant role. What role is it? That is yet to be seen.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas – The Indian movie star was confirmed as part of the cast, but no further details were given about her role.

Jonathan Groff – Star from Mindhunter and Frozen, has confirmed being part of the cast.

Jessica Henwick – This Marvel star is getting all the cool stuff in geek land. She played an X-Wing pilot in The Force Awakens, a Sand Snake in Game of Thrones, and Collen Wing in the Netflix series Iron Fist. According to The Wrap, she is into the new Matrix movie with a “key role”.

Brian J Smith, Toby Onwumere and Eréndira Ibarra – These familiar faces from Wachowski’s Sense8 will also be present in the last incarnation of Matrix.

The director

Is Lana Wachowski alone?

The Wachowski brothers made some amazing things together but this time Lana is doing the Matrix sequel on her own. Her sister, Lilly seems to have abandoned science fiction for good. She claimed in August 2019 to the TCA that she was no longer interested in the implicit messages (subtext) present in science fiction as a genre.

Her sister is absent and she is taking on the directing role by herself. This doesn´t mean she´s alone. She wrote the script together with David Mitchell, and Aleksander Hemon, coworkers from Sense8. The team of stars is complete with Grant Hill, a long-time collaborator of the Wachowski adventures.

The plot, what we know so far

Let’s see, we know that Neo and Trinity are back in the game. We also know that they died in Matrix Revolutions. This will direct us to a prequel, but when interviewed by the BBC, Keanu Reeves denied this theory stating that it was not a trip to the past. Furthermore, he said that it will be a beautiful love story with lots of action. Moreover, he qualified the script as “too beautiful to turn down” when interviewed by Empire Magazine. We assume this love story is between Neo and Trinity; will the power of love beat death? Yet to be seen.

Can we expect to see a different incarnation of Morpheus? Perhaps a parallel universe? With a Wachowski involved, anything can happen.

Filming

The filming had started on February 4th, 2020 in San Francisco. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the production was brought to a halt on March 16th. It was Keanu Reeves, through his social media who confirmed that the filming resumed on August 16th in Berlin. The principal photography for the movie was wrapped up by November 11th, 2020. This included the three main locations: Berlin, San Francisco, and Chicago.

The very few leaked scenes are in San Francisco and show Kate Ann Moss (Trinity) onboard a Motorcycle and Keanu Reeves (Neo) riding behind her.

Release date

Warner Bros original release date for Matrix 4 was May 21st, 2021. Due to the pandemic delays, the release was postponed until April 1st, 2022. Still, the latest gossip we could get our hands on said that it will premiere on December 22nd, 2021. The big news, though, is that it will be premiering not only in theatres but also in HBO MAX for all the lucky subscribers.

Trailer

Since the filming wrapped up only two months ago, we should have some months before seeing the first official trailer. Don’t worry, we searched all over for it too; we can’t wait either.

Wrapping up

What can we expect from the new incarnation of The Matrix? Well, we can make some assumptions to consider the resurrection of Neo and Trinity. Perhaps the inclusion of a younger Morpheus, which would mean time-travelling? Or even parallel realities. The truth is that with a Wachowski involved anything can happen.

We, as fans, would love to see Matrix 4 break all the moulds and witness Lana Wachowski, Keanu Reeves, and company revolutionize the movie world again.

Hopefully, they will not let us down.

Thanks for reading about what we know so far about The Matrix 4. Did we miss anything? Are there any rumours you’ve heard? What do you think the plot will be? Leave us a comment below.

Read what if Will Smith was Neo HERE.

Check out IMDB information on The Matrix 4 HERE.