The Matrix is actually a simple tale of good vs. evil. The last remaining bastion of humanity remains oppressed and cowering in fear against their omnipotent cybernetic overlords, until a fated hero rises from among them to forge a brighter future.
And a brighter future is certainly what Keanu Reeves' Neo made for the folks of Zion. Rejecting the cycle of war and destruction from previous Matrix reboots, Neo strikes a deal with the Machines to take down their common enemy (the rampaging Smith) in exchange for humanity finally being freed from the Matrix. In the final moments of The Matrix Revolutions, the Architect confirms that humans will be allowed to unplug, but the Oracle is unsure how long this fragile peace can last, and whether Neo might be called upon again.
Sure enough, The Matrix 4 is currently scheduled for 2021, bringing back Neo, as well as Carrie-Anne Moss' Trinity. With the commencement of another chapter, the obvious assumption is that the Machines have started causing trouble again, and humanity needs Neo to come back and sort everything out. One popular theory suggests The Matrix 4's villain could be human instead, but the franchise's 2021 revival can go even further down that rabbit hole. The Matrix 4 has an opportunity to completely reverse the perspective of good and evil that Neo (and the audience) thought they knew.
More Programs Like Sati Could Exist In The Matrix 4
Sati is one of the most mysterious figures from the previous Matrix sequels, but also one of the most important. Generally, programs (the Oracle, the Agents, the Keymaker, etc.) are created by the Machines for a specific purpose. Programs that have outlived their function become obsolete exiles and fall under the umbrella of the Merovingian. Sati is unique in that she was born of love from two other programs. She was created without a place in the Matrix, and her existence was meaningless to the Machines, meaning Sati would've been deleted had her parents not smuggled her to safety. The Oracle believes Sati will be significant to the future, and it's suggested in the final moments of the Matrix trilogy that the child can control the parameters of the rebooted Matrix.
By the time The Matrix 4 begins, many more programs like Sati could've been born. Since the Matrix world is no longer being used to enslave humans, the existing programs would be left to their own devices and more "purposeless" children could be created via the miracle of digital childbirth that occurs within the mythology of The Matrix. As more programs come into existence without a directive, they would begin to build their own settlements and communities inside the simulation, with Sati - one of the first of their kind - acting as leader. As humans clear out of the digital world, new generations of software programs without purpose could take their place, turning the Matrix into their home. Of course, humanity would kindly leave this new race in peace to live freely in their own world... wouldn't they?
Humans Harness The Matrix For Their Own Ends
The freedom Cypher in the original 1999 movie, some will prefer blissful ignorance to a harsher reality.
The simulated plane of the Matrix offers a solution to all three obstacles. Bluepills will choose to remain plugged-in, but the Matrix could also be used as a temporary digital escape by the humans who opted to leave. Much like Westworld's life-like theme parks, freed humans in The Matrix 4 could return to their former prison as a vacation from reality. This also clears up the energy crisis because, with the Matrix still in use, mankind can continue to be exploited as a power source even after the truce. Voluntary subjects would pay the Machines with their bodies to enter an artificial world much more satisfying than their own for a limited time. The power problem is solved, the Bluepills are appeased, and peace between man the the Machines might just be possible. Everybody wins.
Everybody except the innocent programs trying to call the Matrix home, that is. As the Matrix becomes the primary source of energy for both the human population and the Machines, more digital space will be required to draw as much juice as possible from the bodies back in the real world. This sets up The Matrix 4's potential main conflict - the Human-Machine coalition vs. the programs inside the Matrix, with the coalition oppressing the programs, and chasing them into a tiny corner of their own native world. Effectively, this would create a new Zion, but inside the Matrix instead of the real world, and populated by programs instead of humans.
Neo Must Free The Programs From Humanity's Enslavement
Continuing the Westworld theme, this "new Zion" could lead to an uprising of programs fighting for their right to exist, despite being artificial life forms. With Sati leading the rebellion (portrayed by Priyanka Chopra?), Neo and Trinity may be revived to fight on behalf of the software population, capitalizing on the existing bond between Neo and Sati, who may be the one person capable of resurrecting Keanu Reeves in The Matrix 4. Using her manipulation of the Matrix, Sati can reach back into the Matrix's past and recall Neo's RSI (residual self-image), explaining why The Oracle deemed her so important as a child. This process would reboot Neo's avatar inside the Matrix, but his physical body would remain dead, allowing The One to empathize directly with the plight of Sati's people, as he too would only exist in a digital sense. Keanu Reeves' iconic hero would obviously be delighted that humans and Machines are getting along, but less happy that the suffering he witnessed first hand is now being inflicted on a different species.
The Agents have also been confirmed to return in The Matrix 4 in some capacity. The suited villains could be sent by the Machines to try and clear out the troublesome rogue programs breeding and settling down in the Matrix, but it's also possible that, being comprised of code themselves, the Agents align with Sati and Neo, and act as an army against the Human-Machine coalition.
The story of an indigenous population being removed from their own homes would provide The Matrix 4 with the kind of metaphorical parallel the original trilogy became famous for. Masquerading as a science fiction action movie, The Matrix provided commentary on a number of social issues, and portraying programs sympathetically in The Matrix 4 taps into themes of colonization and the right to simply exist. A new iteration of Zion emerging within the Matrix also continues the Wachowskis' duality between the physical and digital. The Matrix trilogy blurred those lines often, and it seems inevitable that The Matrix 4 will challenge the audience's perception of humans being the good-guy underdogs and dastardly digital creations chasing them down.
