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After 18 years, fans have finally gone back to The Matrix. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss returned for director Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections. And while the central mystery of how Neo and Trinity are back has been solved, the movie still holds a lot to dig into. In fact, a secret cast member in The Matrix Resurrections highlights Neo and Trinity’s love story even moreso than many fans might realize.

Carrie-Anne Moss, Lana Wachowski, and Keanu Reeves wear black clothes and pose in front of a display at ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ premiere
Carrie-Anne Moss, Lana Wachowski, and Keanu Reeves | Kelly Sullivan

‘The Matrix Resurrections’ serves as a love story

Ahead of its release, Reeves and company revealed The Matrix Resurrections hinges on the love between its two leads. The film’s story indeed focuses largely on the bond between Neo and Trinity and the power it carries. But then again, The Matrix franchise has always been a love story in hindsight, right down to its fairy tale allusions.

In the 1999 original, it’s Trinity’s kiss that restores Neo’s life by the end. And the sequels — 2003’s The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions — double-down on this idea. Their connection literally changes the fate of the human race in that second film and motivates both toward their destinies going into the end of the trilogy.

The casting emphasizes Neo and Trinity’s bond

So it shouldn’t surprise fans The Matrix Resurrections hones in on Neo and Trinity’s love. However, what many might not realize is how deep the rabbit hole of their romance goes. In one instance, the casting of Chad Stahelski as the husband of Tiffany — Trinity’s alter-ego inside the Matrix — is a cheeky Easter egg. Stahelski served as Reeves’ stunt double on The Matrix trilogy, meaning Trinity is essentially married to a Neo stand-in in the Matrix.

But there’s another bit of meta-casting built into the lives of Neo and Trinity’s lives inside the Matrix. The Matrix Resurrections establishes that both characters have different faces in this new version of the Matrix. And viewers get glimpses of Neo’s new facade as Thomas Anderson. The actor credited as “Thomas’s Reflection” on IMDb? Steven Roy, real-life husband of Moss. No wonder her character, Tiffany aka Trinity, finds Mr. Anderson irresistible.

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Will Keanu Reeves ever return for ‘The Matrix 5’?

Even though The Matrix Resurrections has only been out a few weeks, fans are already wondering whether Wachowski has plans for another installment. At this point, it doesn’t sound like that’s the case. But this fourth movie does end with the possibility that The Matrix 5 could continue the story.

Despite the movie’s less-than-expected box office performance, it’s possible that Warner Bros.’ day-and-date release in theaters and on HBO Max is still successful enough to warrant another movie. If nothing else, fans of The Matrix series got at least one more adventure with Reeves and Moss back as these iconic characters.

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