The Matrix Resurrections is Now Streaming on HBO Max

Eighteen years since the release of the last movie in the series, The Matrix Resurrections is now streaming on HBO Max and playing in theaters around the world. The fourth film in the series picks up many years after the last movie, The Matrix Revolutions, and actually brings back a handful of stars from the first film including Keanu Reeves as Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity. Though the original trilogy was created by siblings Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, only the former returned for the new movie, directing the film from a script they co-wrote with Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell and their Sense8 collaborator Aleksandar Hemon.

Perhaps you're thinking to yourself, "How are Neo and Trinity back? Didn't they die?" They sure did, but we'll remind you that the title of this movie is The Matrix Resurrections. Reeves and Moss are joined in the movie by an ensemble of newcomers to the franchise including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Morpheus, plus Jessica Henwick (Marvel's Iron Fist, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Quantico), plus Jada Pinkett Smith who reprises her role of Niobe from The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. The film also reunites Wachowski with many of their Sense8 cast members including Eréndira Ibarra, Max Riemelt, Brian J. Smith, and Toby Onwumere.

In the official ComicBook.com review for the movie out own Jamie Jirak awarded the sequel a 4 out of 5, writing in part: "While The Matrix Resurrections has its flaws, it's a great return to a world that shaped so many film fans. Wachowski delivers a sequel worthy of the Matrix name that's fun, funny, and romantic."

There has been speculation online, largely due to how Hollywood's creativity functions in the modern era, that The Matrix Resurrections would be the start of a new trilogy. No one creatively involved in the film had ever confirmed such plans until this week when Lana Wachowski shot it down with an emphatic "No."

Speaking with The AP, Lana said of her time making the movie: "I didn't ever want to make another Matrix movie. I told everyone for 18 years I didn't want to make another Matrix movie. Lilly told everyone she didn't want to make another Matrix movie," the filmmaker admitted. "Then I had a tragedy in my life, my parents passed away, and I needed something to help me with the grief. Inventing a story where two people come back to life was healing and comforting and I was non-judgmental, I just wrote it, and I didn't know what I was gonna do with it, and then I read part of the story [to a colleague] and she said, 'Oh, my God, you have to tell this story.'"

Their story has now been told and you can stream it right now on HBO Max. If you haven't signed up for HBO Max yet, you can try it out here.