‘The Matrix Resurrections’: Trailer Confirms Where Neo’s Body Is in the ‘Real World’ After the End of ‘The Matrix Revolutions’
After many years, the next installment in The Matrix franchise is finally coming. With the film’s first trailer out, The Matrix Resurrections entices fans with a glimpse into a new chapter of the story. Though the teaser offers many mysteries, returning cast members, new characters, and more, it also unexpectedly answers questions. One of them involves what happened to Neo’s body after the end of the third film.
‘The Matrix Resurrections’ trailer is slick and mysterious
The new trailer for The Matrix Resurrections gives fans plenty of details to digest. Notably, the film seems to take a more meta approach to its storytelling.
Neo — now returned to calling himself Thomas Anderson and looking like John Wick — believes his adventures inside the Matrix were all a dream. Once again played by Keanu Reeves, Thomas talks to his therapist (played by Neil Patrick Harris) about the events of the previous films, but he’s reassured they weren’t real.
Things get more complicated with the reappearance of Carrie-Anne Moss’ Trinity, who, like Neo, should be dead. She claims to have never met Thomas before, but it’s clear both are having some flashes of memory of their prior relationship.
As the music swells, The Matrix Resurrections trailer offers scenes of Neo rediscovering his powers, several new characters (and potentially one old one), the agents’ return, and more.
The teaser bears a mysterious tone, but that seems to be the point given how furiously fans have been poring over every frame.
A quick shot near the beginning of ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ teaser reveals Neo’s location
Watching the trailer’s frames, you’ll see a shocking detail near the beginning. About 12 seconds into the clip, as Neo speaks with his therapist about his supposed dreams, the scene cuts to a man with digital code in his eyes firing a gun while Neo jumps to try to catch the bullet in slow motion.
But a second later, we get the big reveal of Neo’s body in the world outside the Matrix. For barely a second, the moment shows his body intact while machines seemingly study it. Neo’s figure hangs from numerous mechanical appendages in the darkness.
That’s a fascinating detail to include in the trailer and The Matrix Resurrections. Beyond the apparent reason of finding out what happened to Neo’s body after the end of the third movie, the concept of the machines holding onto his remains is a significant plot point in the little-known The Matrix Online video game.
To what degree the incomplete and now-defunct game’s story will affect the movie remains a mystery. But it wouldn’t be out of character for co-creator Lana Wachowski to reference an old piece of media most of the audience doesn’t know about in the film.
Other interesting details in the trailer
In addition to hinting about Neo’s body’s whereabouts, The Matrix Resurrections trailer abounds with other intriguing details.
The Alice in Wonderland book appears to reference the White Rabbit symbolism in the first film and a new character with a tattoo similar to Trinity’s.
A few shots and scenes seem to be re-creations of old ones, too, such as Trinity near a phone, the offering of the red and blue pills, Neo’s awakening from his pod, and his sparring session with Morpheus.
The Matrix Resurrections trailer even includes footage of the original film on screens and a projector, implying it’s a fictional film within the new movie.
Most important, a character appears to be a new incarnation of Morpheus. Now played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, he looks like a younger but nearly identical version of Neo’s former master, right down to his sunglasses.
Interestingly enough, the same video game that introduced the idea of the machines keeping Neo’s body also saw the original Morpheus supposedly fatally shot during one mission. Could this be related to the recasting? It’s too early to tell, but it’s an intriguing theory.
