‘The Matrix’ Cast Reminisces About the Franchise’s Biggest Scenes That Changed Their Lives Forever — Can ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ Do That For a New Generation?

1999’s The Matrix is one of the most iconic action movies ever made. It influenced popular culture in countless ways. Every action movie wishes that it could capture the same lightning in a bottle as The Matrix once did. A recent featurette explores how The Matrix Resurrections‘ cast reflects on the franchise. The film series took an 18-year break, so is it possible that another sequel could truly reignite the beloved action franchise?

‘The Matrix’ franchise is adding another installment

2003’s The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions continued the story. However, critics and audiences didn’t praise the sequels like they did the original. Nevertheless, The Matrix remains a huge action movie fan favorite. The franchise is about to get one entry larger, as The Matrix Resurrections is a direct sequel to The Matrix Revolutions.

The story picks up 20 years after the 2003 sequel. Neo (Keanu Reeves), also known as Thomas A. Anderson, is living a relatively normal life in San Francisco. However, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Neo don’t recognize one another. Neo’s regularly prescribed blue pills. Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) gives him a red pill, which brings him back into the world of the Matrix.

‘The Matrix Resurrections’ stars reflect on the trilogy’s impact

The Warner Bros. Entertainment YouTube page posted a featurette for The Matrix Resurrections. The cast discusses how The Matrix franchise impacts popular culture and their own very lives.

Reeves said, “While we were making the first Matrix, I felt like it was something beyond yourself. It’s big.”

Moss explained how one of her iconic lines from the 1999 film unexpectedly took off. “The experience of making the movies was such a transformative time of my life,” she said. “It was such an opportunity of a lifetime … I never thought ‘dodge this’ was going to be a big deal.”

Jessica Henwick contributed to the conversation around The Matrix franchise and popular culture. “You can’t quantify how much it changed the world. Everything entered pop culture and stayed. We say ‘a glitch in the matrix.’”

Neil Patrick Harris was drawn to the movie’s huge scope, scale, and action sequences. “These massive sequences with cars flipping, explosions everywhere, and bullet time,” Harris said. “The Matrix as an idea has lasted 20 years. People use terminology like ‘Are you going to take the red pill?’”

Finally, Abdul-Mateen brought up one of the most legendary elements ever in The Matrix franchise. “Slow-motion, man,” he said. “That’s the most iconic thing that I remember. Neo dodging the bullets.”

‘The Matrix Resurrections’ can be the start of something new

The Matrix franchise is bringing the upcoming sequel to a whole new generation of moviegoers who didn’t get to experience the trilogy as they were released. However, The Matrix Resurrections has the opportunity of gaining an entirely new fan base that will further immortalize the action film series. It’s unlikely that it will capture that same lightning in a bottle, but frankly, it shouldn’t even attempt to do so.

1999’s The Matrix was so successful thanks to its genre-bending, expectation-defying concepts, and jaw-dropping action spectacle. The Matrix Resurrections has big shoes to fill, but it still has the chance of defining this generation’s action moviegoing experiences. Reeves’ John Wick has certainly left quite the impression, but The Matrix franchise will likely inspire many folks to go back and watch the original trilogy. If nothing else, it will further solidify The Matrix as one of the action movie genre’s best franchises.

The first three The Matrix franchise installments can be found streaming on HBO Max.