When a fourth Matrix movie was announced and its cast later confirmed it had some fans scratching their heads. Keanu Reevs and Carrie-Anne Moss, both of whom had died in the third movie in the series, were confirmed to return and the rest of the cast was mostly newcomers; plus it was later confirmed that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II would be playing the part of Morpheus, taking over from Laurence Fishburne who would not return. A few other characters were re-cast in the new movie but according to a new interview with the writers of the movie, one original star was going to return before a scheduling conflict forced them to recast the role.
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“A new Morpheus was there from the beginning,” co-writer Aleksandar Hemon revealed to io9. “During my brief career in the movies, I’ve learned that moviemaking, it’s a world of contingency. And so people might or might not, you know, sign on-or if they sign on, some things may change. So we did write some roles, I’m not going to give it away, but we wrote a character for someone we thought would play [it] and then it was not possible. And so still, we didn’t change anything radically, but we were just imagining this actor in the role. And then it turned out that it was not possible, but we didn’t change any lines with that. So that actor is still inscribed in the role.” When asked to clarify which role, Hemon revealed that Hugo Weaving was originally set to return as Smith.
“There were preliminary talks (with Weaving) and so we were not involved in them with people, but it was not entirely resolved,” Hemon said. “Because the premise of The Matrix and (this) movie is somewhat different, Agent Smith would have been different in some ways, no matter who played it. And Jonathan Groff is amazing in that role. He added a dimension that I could not foresee while we were writing. But there’s an increased emotional emotionality in the movie and then he fits into that pattern.”
The Matrix Resurrections does go out of its way to feature clips of Weaving’s Smith throughout the film in flashback clips, plus a bust of his face can be seen in the office of Groff’s character. There’s also some playful things done in the movie with how characters appear to themselves and everyone else. The DSI, digital self-image, of Keanu Reeves’ Neo looks like himself when he looks in the mirror, but others perceive him as someone else. Though not specificially called out by the others, a brief reflection of Carrie-Anne Moss’ Trinity reveals she has an altered DSI and a moment where Groff’s Smith looks in a broken mirror seems to show him appearing very Weaving-like to the world.
The Matrix Resurrections is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.
