Matrix 4 Casts Sense8 Actress

The cast continues to come together for the upcoming fourth Matrix movie and director Lana Wachowski is leaning on the friends she's made along the way. With an official release date already set and production nearing its start it's likely that the complete cast for the film will be revealed soon, and we just got another announcement. Deadline reports that Wachowski has enlisted one of the cast members from the Netflix series she co-created, Sense8. Mexican actress Eréndira Ibarra has been tapped to appear in the sequel, where she will join some of her co-stars from the Netflix series including Max Riemelt and Toby Onwumere.

Though it remains to be seen what her role in the film will end up being, she joins a stellar cast that will include other franchise newcomers like Watchmen's Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Iron Fist alum Jessica Henick, Mindhunter's Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, and her Sense8 co-stars. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss will also reprise their roles from the original trilogy as Neo and Trinity, but considering the ending of 2003's The Matrix Revolutions it remains to be seen how they will appear.

Co-director of the original films Lana Wachowski will direct the new sequel which she co-wrote with frequent collaborators David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon. Production is scheduled to begin in February of this year, primarily shooting in Chicago under the working title of "Project Ice Cream."

"We could not be more excited to be re-entering the Matrix with Lana," Chairman Toby Emmerich said in a statement when The Matrix 4 was announced. "Lana is a true visionary — a singular and original creative filmmaker — and we are thrilled that she is writing, directing and producing this new chapter in The Matrix universe."

"Many of the ideas Lilly and I explored 20 years ago about our reality are even more relevant now. I'm very happy to have these characters back in my life and grateful for another chance to work with my brilliant friends," Wachowski said.

Warner Bros. has the Untitled Matrix Film currently scheduled for release on May 21, 2021. The film is also scheduled to open against another major Keanu Reeves movie, John Wick: Chapter 4. In the end it remains to be seen if this Reeves double feature will happen at all, but we can all dream.

In addition to the upcoming fourth film in the series, another project set in the universe of The Matrix is in development at Warner Bros. Screenwriter Zak Penn previously confirmed he had been working on a separate project set "earlier in the timeline of the matrix universe." Whether that script will eventually see the light of day as a film remains to be seen.