When news broke that a Matrix reboot was in development, many were naturally less-than-excited. The original films — which followed an everyday man who learns he’s living in a simulated reality and becomes humanity’s hope for an end to their war with machines — were so iconic that a reboot seemed like a capital B Bad idea.
However, the writer of the new Matrix project later clarified that its nature wasn’t what people expected based on the initial report. So Inverse decided to take stock of what we actually know about the next entry in the Matrix franchise, which, admittedly, isn’t much.
Keanu Reeves Doesn’t Know Anything About It (Yet)
At the New York Comic Con panel for the upcoming film Replicas on Thursday, Keanu Reeves (who played Neo in the Matrix films) was asked about the new Matrix project, as reported by IGN. In response, Reeves said: “Remaking The Matrix. I don’t know. Maybe it’s … I don’t know anything about it.”
That may be partially because…
It’s Not a Reboot
Despite The Hollywood Reporter’s article stating that the new project was a reboot, it’s not. On March 15, Zak Penn took to Twitter to heavily imply that the film wasn’t a reboot, writing that “no one could or should REBOOT the Matrix.” In the same tweet, he also said that the project was more along the lines of the Matrix comics or anime anthology film The Animatrix, which featured stories in the Matrix universe not necessarily tied to the film series. As both of these projects were well-received, this was incredibly promising news.
In response to Keanu Reeves being asked about the project at NYCC, Penn tweeted again about the project on Friday, this time making it pretty clear that it’s not a reboot. “Not a reboot, not a continuation, watch Animatrix, read comics to see what [original Matrix directors Lilly and Lana Wachowski] did,” Penn wrote. (The Wachowskis contributed to the comics along with authors like Geof Darrow and Neil Gaiman.)
Directly addressing Reeves being questioned about the project, Penn continued: “no need to put actors or anyone on the spot, because there’s nothing there yet. No reboot or reimagining, no recasting involved.”
In this GIF, the bullets are information about the new Matrix project; Neo is us.
There’s currently no word on when we’ll actually see the new Matrix project.
