The Matrix series is as much about Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith as it is about Neo and Trinity, black shades and leather coats, and bullet time.
However, The Matrix 4 won't include the iconic The Lord of the Rings actor as the multiplying villain, which is more than a little disappointing.
Weaving has revealed that it was originally planned for his character to appear in the fourth entry, but it didn't end up working out for a few reasons.
He recalled how it panned out to ComingSoon, saying: "Lana Wachowski had rung me at the beginning of last year. We've worked together five times – the Wachowskis and I – on three Matrix films, V for Vendetta and Cloud Atlas. I've hung out with them all over the world for many, many years.
"So, yes, Lana was very keen for me to be involved in The Matrix. There was a reading with Keanu (Reeves), Carrie(-Anne Moss), and myself and a few others from the old family. I loved a lot of it and wasn't sure about other bits.
"Ultimately, we talked about it and when the offer came through to do it for Warner I said 'yes' the next day, and I talked to Lana."
Weaving explained that he was contracted to do stage work for the National Theatre in London from November to April, and had hoped to film his Matrix scenes from May to July. For a while, negotiations surrounding schedules and money were going well.
"We were all pretty much sorted and agreed on dates and it was all fine, but then Lana decided she didn't think it was going to work," he said.
"So, she pulled the plug on the negotiations. That's where it ended up. She basically didn't feel that my commitment to the National Theatre was going to fit in with the dates that she had in mind for me. It was a shame in one way that I couldn't be with them all in Berlin, but that was her call.
"Yeah, it would be lovely to be over there to hang out with them all. I'm very fond of Keanu and Carrie. I haven't seen them for a while. But I look forward to seeing it."
Lilly Wachowski recently said that The Matrix was always meant to be a trans allegory, so it will be interesting to see if an entry in the series released in the present day will make it less subtext and more text.
Matrix 4 Officially Gets May 2021 Release Date
Warner Bros. has officially scheduled a 2021 release date for its as-yet untitled The Matrix 4.The original Matrix trilogy concluded with 2003's The Matrix Revolutions, seemingly bringing the story of Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), and their battle to free humanity from the machines to an end with it. In more recent years, however, WB has been working on various ways to resurrect the popular sci-fi property on the big screen, be it with a continuation or reboot.
The studio ultimately settled on a fourth Matrix movie and made the news official a few months ago. Both Reeves and Moss will reprise their respective roles in this new chapter (in spite of Neo and Trinity's deaths during Revolutions), with The Matrix co-creator Lana Wachowski directing solo from a screenplay she co-wrote. There has been several casting updates since then ahead of the start of production in early 2020, but now the film has a release date set in stone.
