Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Matrix Resurrections.
According to Lana Wachowski's The Matrix Resurrections, the fourth film in the franchise, was released last week to mixed reviews from both audiences and critics. Although many have found the film to be a clever and creative – and very meta – exploration of the franchise itself, others have criticized the film for its lackluster action scenes and self-aware storytelling.
The first Matrix movie in almost 20 years, Matrix Resurrections reintroduces audiences to Keanu Reeves' Thomas Anderson/ Neo and Carrie-Ann Moss's Trinity, finding them vastly different from how they were depicted in 2003's The Matrix Revolutions after a considerable jump in time. Both Neo and Trinity seemingly have no memory of the events of the previous film and are once again struggling to escape from their manufactured reality within the Matrix. In addition to Reeves and Moss, the film also sees the return of Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe and Lambert Wilson as The Merovingian, but iconic characters like Agent Smith and Morpheus are recast with Jonathan Groff and Yahya Abdul-Mateen respectively.
In a new interview with Collider, McTeigue reveals that, despite the film's ending being rather open-ended, neither he, nor Lana Wachowski, has any plans to make a fifth Matrix film. According to McTeigue, this leaves plenty of room for audiences to fill out the gaps in the timeline themselves and to extrapolate what could come next based on the hints in the ending to Matrix Resurrections. Check out McTeigue's full comment below:
"Look, for us, I think, at the moment, it's just the movie you've seen. We've got no prequel in mind. We've got no sequel in mind. We've got no further trilogy. But I think the film also works where it's really open to audience interpretation, like what happened in those 60 years before they fished Neo out again, or Thomas Anderson to Neo. When Neo and Trinity are there at the end, and they're talking with the analyst, what do they actually mean that they're going to change? So I think that it's out there, but it's not in our wheelhouse at the moment."
Much in the same way the original Matrix could technically be its own standalone film, Matrix Resurrections similarly tells its own complete story. It's also important to note that McTeigue stresses that their plans not to tell any further Matrix stories is just how they feel "at the moment," suggesting that things could change down the line. After all, following the conclusion of the original trilogy with Matrix Revolutions (and the apparent death of both Neo and Trinity), it seems likely that McTeigue and the Wachowskis thought that they were done with the franchise then too, something they only reconsidered years later.
Of course, as evidenced by the metatextual commentary within The Matrix Resurrections itself, Warner Bros. could very well opt to make a prequel or a sequel without McTeigue or the Wachowskis involvement, something they almost did at one point several years ago. Matrix Resurrections earned $69 million at the global box office in its opening weekend, which, while paling in comparison to Spider-Man: No Way Home, is impressive for an R-rated sci-fi sequel that launched simultaneously on HBO Max. While The Matrix Resurrections will likely be the last Matrix movie audiences see for quite a while, it wouldn't be surprising if, after a few years, McTeigue and Lana Wachowski (and maybe even Lilly Wachowski, as well), return to tell another story in the world they first brought to life more than 20 years ago.
Source: Collider
