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Matrix 4 Version Could Have Happened Without Lana Wachowski

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Keanu Reeves probably wouldn’t have come back for Resurrections without Lana Wachowski.
Image: Warner Bros.

In the week since the release of The Matrix Resurrections, the response to the film has been hugely polarizing. Some (like us) praised it for its fascinating ideas and smart continuation of the franchise. Others have dumped on it for being too self-aware with not enough of the action the franchise was built upon. Whatever side of the argument you fall on though, we can surely agree on one positive thing: that the film was made by one of the people responsible for the franchise, Lana Wachowski. Because that wasn’t always going to be the case.

Memories on the internet are short so odds are many people have forgotten that back in 2017, Warner Bros. was reportedly developing a new version of The Matrix from writer Zak Penn (Last Action Hero, Ready Player One) for star Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther, Creed). That was never officially confirmed, just reported on by reputable trade outlets, but in a new interview, one of the Matrix’s producers, James McTeigue, confirmed talks to continue the franchise without the Wachowskis did happen.

“Yeah. That was real,” McTeigue told Collider when asked if there were versions of this film that could have happened without Wachowski. “There were versions out there. But I guess the fates dictated that Lana’s story came at the right time, and Warner Bros. were willing to move forward with that story.”

McTeigue explained that while Warner Bros. was looking at other versions, which is to be expected from any major franchise with a brand name, the company “hadn’t landed on the right version,” he continued. “So when Lana eventually came back around and said, ‘Look. I’m interested in making another movie,’ of course, they went with the filmmaker who was the genesis of the Matrix.”

Interestingly enough, while the new interview does not get into it, around the time the Jordan/Penn version made news, Keanu Reeves made it clear he would not return to the franchise unless the Wachowskis were involved. “The Wachowskis would have to be involved,” Reeves said in 2017. “They would have to write it and direct it. And then we’d see what the story is, but yeah, I dunno, that’d be weird, but why not? People die, stories don’t. People in stories don’t.”

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So even if you don’t like Resurrections, at least Wachowski’s involvement made sure it was Neo in this story and not someone else. The Matrix Resurrections is in theaters now and streaming on HBO Max for a few more weeks.

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Warner Bros. would’ve eventually made a new Matrix without Lana Wachowski

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The Matrix Resurrections
Photo: Warner Bros.

There’s an odd meta moment early on in The Matrix Resurrections where Neo, stuck in a new version of The Matrix and believing that he is legendary video game designer Thomas Anderson (creator of a trilogy of video games called The Matrix), is summoned to the office of his business partner (Jonathan Groff’s Smith) and told that their studio’s parent company, Warner Bros., is going to make a new Matrix game. The implication is that it’s happening with or without him, a nod to the movie’s ongoing theme about binary choices that aren’t really choices at all.

The other implication, though, is that Resurrections director and series co-creator Lana Wachowski recently found herself in a similar meeting, one where Warner Bros. offered her a non-choice between making a new Matrix and stepping aside so they can make a new Matrix without her. Why else would Smith specifically name Warner Bros. as the one pulling the strings? Well, prepare your shocked face, because you’re about to be shocked.

Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened, though things were apparently a little less antagonistic in real life. Speaking with Collider, Matrix series producer James McTeigue explained that there’s “always talk” about keeping a franchise with so much “potential money making capability” going, but Warner Bros. was never able to land on “the right version” of the story.

So, when Lana Wachowski came back with a new story in mind (and some buddies from Sense8 to help write it), the studio jumped at the chance to make more Matrix. A new Matrix movie almost certainly would’ve happened at some point, then, but the reason it happened now is because Lana Wachowski wanted to make it. So it was a decision driven by her, but that doesn’t mean it was always going to work out that way… thanks to free will and all that. You know, Matrix stuff.

At the very least, this all means that the scene in Matrix Resurrections is just a winky joke about sequels and big studios, rather than Wachowski calling for help. Here’s the real question, though: What would’ve happened to the in-universe Matrix video games if Warner Bros.’ video game branch had actually been sold off? Would Thomas Anderson and Smith be working for Tencent or Microsoft instead?

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Matrix 4 End Credits: Secret Scene After Resurrections

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Neo and Trinity would like you to stay through the very end, please.
Image: Warner Bros.

Fans know to stay put through the credits on a Marvel movie, but maybe not on a Matrix movie. However, they definitely should when it comes to The Matrix Resurrections, which is now in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.

Resurrections is the long-awaited sequel to the original Matrix trilogy (The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions) which brings back Keanu Reeves as Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity. Both characters died in Revolutions, or so we thought—but co-writer and director Lana Wachowski explores what happened next in her new film.

And after all of The Matrix Resurrections’ action and drama, there’s the credits. If you’re like most people, you probably stopped the film there. But Wachowski has a cheeky little surprise at the end and here’s what happened.

If you’ve seen the movie, you know that in this new version of the Matrix, created by the machines to house Neo and Trinity after Revolutions, Thomas Anderson created a hugely successful franchise of games called… The Matrix. And now the company’s owner, Warner Bros., wants him to make a fourth game. Something he said he’d never do. All of which mirrors, exactly, what Lana Wachowski went through with The Matrix films.

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After the credits, we revisit a scene that happens early in the film, and we see that Anderson’s braintrust is still trying to break down what a fourth Matrix should be. Now, whether or not this is still actually happening in the Matrix of the movie—since at the end, Neo and Trinity are no longer under the control of the Analyst (Neil Patrick Harris)—we don’t know. Maybe it is maybe it isn’t. But either way, one of the employees mentions that “Movies are dead. Games are dead. Narrative? Dead.” They believe media is nothing but a series of neural triggers. And the answer? Cat videos. “What we need is a series of videos that we call The Catrix.” He sits back with dumb confidence.

Like The Matrix Resurrections itself, the scene is a joke that works on a few levels. The basic one being the idea is so incredibly stupid, therefore it’s funny. However you have to think the scene is also probably Wachowski commenting on both her general disdain for modern, mainstream entertainment and maybe even previous ideas people have pitched her on doing a fourth Matrix. Ideas that are so stupid and random, they might as well have been the Cat-rix. Hopefully no one specifically ever pitched The Matrix with cats, but if you sub in cats for “Any Random Popular Thing,” it becomes more clear.

Anyway, it’s a fun little addition to the film and, in case you missed it, there it is. The Matrix Resurrections is now playing.

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Shang-Chi Marvel Hot Toys Figures Pics: Simu Liu, Tony Leung

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Image: Marvel/Hot Toys

Here’s the one weird thing about Hot Toys toys: While the face sculpts are so accurate that people (mostly me) have speculated that dark magic is involved, they’re sculpted with completely neutral expressions. That’s fine most of the time because they’re made as collector’s items, not toys to be played with. But if you want to pose two figures together in, say, a fight scene, it’s incredibly odd to see two people who are supposed to be in some sort of emotional state have completely blank looks on their faces. Shang-Chi and Wenwu’s bodies and limbs are in the fight of their lives, but their heads are wondering what’s for dinner.

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