The Wachowski Sisters Reveal: Lana on Bringing Back Neo and Trinity for ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ & Lilly Not Returning to ‘The Matrix’ World
The Matrix trilogy has become one of the most popular movie series. But losing both of your parents in a short amount of time will take its toll on anyone. For Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the loss of their parents has had a significant impact on their future. Lana dealt with her grief by bringing Neo and Trinity back to life, two of the most popular characters, and make The Matrix Resurrections. For Lilly, there was no interest to return to the world of The Matrix while dealing with exhaustion, grief, and a significant transition in her life.
Lana Wachowski on why she made ‘The Matrix Resurrections’
At the International Literature Festival Berlin, Wachowski explained why she brought back the series’ two most iconic characters despite their sacrifices in The Matrix Revolutions.
“My dad died, then this friend died, then my mom died. I didn’t really know how to process that kind of grief,” said Lana. “I hadn’t experienced it that closely. You know their lives are going to end, and yet it was still really hard. My brain has always reached into my imagination, and one night, I was crying, and I couldn’t sleep, and my brain exploded this whole story.”
“And I couldn’t have my mom and dad, yet suddenly I had Neo and Trinity, arguably the two most important characters in my life,” continued Lana. “It was immediately comforting to have these two characters alive again, and it’s super simple.”
“You can look at it and say: ‘ok, these two people die and ok, bring these two people back to life and oh, doesn’t that feel good,’ said Lana. “Yeah, it did! It’s simple, and this is what art does, and that’s what stories do; they comfort us.”
‘The Matrix Resurrections’ trailer centers on Neo and Trinity
The first trailer for The Matrix Resurrections focuses on Neo and Trinity, with many shots in action. The first scene takes place in a coffee shop where they don’t appear to know each other. “Have we met?” she asks as they shake hands. Are they new versions of familiar characters? Or the same with no memory? When the new Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) tells Neo that “the only thing that matters to you is still here,” he may be referring to Trinity.
The trailer also shows Trinity kicking butt against numerous officers, similar to the original trilogy. Trinity drives a motorcycle with Neo as a passenger as they are being attacked during a chase sequence. On a rooftop, Neo uses his powers to stop a helicopter while Trinity looks on. The final shot of the trailer has the duo jumping off a high-rise building.
Lana leaves little doubt that Neo and Trinity figure prominently in the story for The Matrix Resurrections.
Why is Lilly Wachowski not involved with ‘The Matrix Resurrections’?
Lilly Wachowski explained why she is not involved with The Matrix Resurrections. The idea of returning to the world of The Matrix was a “particularly repelling idea in these times.” It felt like a step back after the loss of her parents. Lilly was tired from completing two movies, Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending, and an entire season of Netflix’s Sense8 and making her transition. Lilly’s personal life became her priority leaving Lana to take over Sense8.
“I got out of my transition and was just completely exhausted,” said Lilly. “You’re talking about three 100-plus days of shooting for each project. So, coming out and just being completely exhausted, my world was like falling apart, to some extent, even while I was, like, cracking out of my egg. So, I needed this time away from this industry. I needed to reconnect to myself as an artist.”
Lilly Wachowski dealing with loss of her parents
While Lana was thinking of ideas for The Matrix Resurrections, both of their parents died. Lilly decided not to return to the world of The Matrix. “My mom and dad died like three years ago,” said Lilly. “That was a particularly brutal stretch of time in my life. Right after that, Lana was talking to me, and she had come up with this idea for another Matrix movie. We had this talk. Actually, we started talking about it in between Dad dying and Mom dying, which was like five weeks apart.”
“There was something about the idea of going backward and being a part of something that I had done before that was expressly unappealing,” continued Lilly. “I didn’t want to have gone through my transition and gone through this massive upheaval in my life, the sense of loss from my mom and dad, to want to go back to something that I had done before and sort of walk over old paths that I had walked in. [It] felt emotionally unfulfilling, and really the opposite. Like I was going to go back and live in these old shoes, in a way, and I didn’t want to do that.”
The Matrix Resurrections will be released in theaters and on HBO Max on Dec. 22.
