Warner Bros. is seeking an actor to play a younger version of Neo in The Matrix 4, according to Variety reporter Justin Kroll, appearing on an episode of Robbie Fox’s My Mom’s Basement podcast, in which they also discussed The Batman, Joker, and more. You can hear the podcast here, in which Kroll (who originally broke the story of the fourth Matrix film) explains that a young actor will join Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) to talk about how there is no spoon, or something of the sort. The film will bring back the same artists who helped to shape the world of the first movie, presumably meaning that they are trying to replicate the look and feel of The Matrix as much as they can.
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One has to hope that whatever young actor they cast can deal with the pressures of playing a young Keanu Reeves. This makes him the closest thing we have to a walking, teenage internet meme, after all.
This time around, the film will be written and directed by Lana Wachowski, one of the two filmmakers who made the original trilogy. There was no immediate explanation as to why her sister Lilly is not involved. Since 2017, when news broke that Warner Bros. was bullish on new stories told in the Matrix universe, there have been questions about how it would be done. For a while, there were rumors about a potential Matrix reboot with Michael B. Jordan, but with interest from Wachowski, it now appears the film will go back to the original cast.
“We could not be more excited to be re-entering the Matrix with Lana,” Warner Bros. chief Toby Emmerich said. “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.
“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 told Variety.
In the comics world, Darrow is best known for his work on Hard Boiled, The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, and Shaolin Cowboy. Skroce, who has remained a regualr collaborator of the Wachowskis for years, has drawn characters like Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood during his comics career.
Wachowski will co-write the film with Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell.