It’s been a slow drip of news, and what we’ve learned has been sparse indeed. I’ve been holding back on reporting each news piece as I learn it, deciding instead to wait until there’s enough little bits of information to warrant an update. Well, we’ve reached that threshold, so here’s everything we’ve learned so far about the production of Matrix 4.
1. The name of the Warner Brothers project is Ice Cream.
A tasty project name, to be sure. I guess it sounded better than tasty wheat.
2. Keanu Reeves has read the script and says it’s “ambitious”
On September 24th, Reeves was on the red carpet with his sister Karina Miller attending the premiere of the new movie she produced, Semper Fi. While in attendance, Entertainment Tonight got the chance to speak with Reeves, who admitted that he had read the script. “It’s very ambitious…as it should be!” teased Reeves. Considering how hard it would be to top the original trilogy, including coming up with new concepts and ideas, the fact that Reeves had this to say is exciting to say the least.
3. Carrie Anne-Moss has also read the script and says it is “amazing”
While attending the New York Comic Con last Thursday to promote her role in Season 2 of CBS All Access’ “Tell Me A Story”, Carrie-Anne Moss told a small group of reporters that she’s keeping most of her thoughts about the new Matrix movie close to her heart, but that she has read the script and said “It’s amazing. I’m excited. I’m super excited. Believe me, I’d love to do nothing but talk about it, but, at the same time, there’s a time for that, and I want it to be — I want to give it all the respect and room that it needs.”
Well that’s two promising responses from the only two leads who are confirmed to be returning. Good enough for me!
4. There may also be a young Neo and young Morpheus, in addition to an older Neo and Trinity played by Keanu and Carrie-Anne.
Variety reporter Justin Kroll, the same one who initially broke the story that Matrix 4 was beginning production, revealed on an episode of “My Mom’s Basement” podcast that the Warner Bros. are in the process of searching for a younger actor to portray Neo. This comes along with the previously reported rumor that they were also looking to cast a young Morpheus, which may explain why Laurence Fishburne hasn’t been confirmed as returning yet.
5. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has been cast.
Once again, Variety was the first to report that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II landed a lead role in Matrix 4. Apparently he met with Lana Wachowski over the week and in recent days,
There’s no word who Yahya will be playing, but it’s a pretty easy guess that he may be playing a young Morpheus after all. You may have recently seen Yahya as playing Aquaman’s nemesis the Black Manta in the latest DCEU live action film. He also played Lupita Nyong’o’s father in “Us” by Jordan Peele, and also had a starring role in the episode “Striking Vipers” alongside Anthony Mackie from season 5 of Black Mirror.
I felt his intensity was welcome in his portrayal of Black Mantis in Aquaman, but I haven’t seen him in anything else so I’m reserving judgement. I, for one, trust Lana’s casting choices though.
6. There may be 2 Matrix projects in production at the same time.
Say what???
Saving the best for last, this news comes from the twitter feed from Zak Penn, a writer who was said to be working on a Matrix project where supposedly Michael B. Jordan was being considered for the role. This is what he had to say:
people keep asking, so let me clarify there are two different #Matrix projects at wb. i wrote one set earlier in the timeline of the matrix universe. Lana Wachowski is directing a sequel that i did not work on, but cant wait to see. Neither of them are reboots. #notareboot
So…there are…two matrix projects in production at the same time? This raises more questions than it answers. Is Michael B. Jordan attached to Zak Penn’s project, then? And why aren’t the Wachowskis working on both of them? And what is the project about, could it be a prequel if it’s set earlier in the timeline?
That’s all I know about Matrix 4 updates, but I’ll remain plugged into the system trying to stay updated on any further developments as your operator. What do you think of all these updates? Let me know in the comments below.