The Simpsons Predicted The Matrix Resurrections, According to a Viral Tweet

By Russ Burlingame

The Simpsons has done it again: the long-running TV series has "predicted" another pop culture phenomenon...kind of. In a tweet that went unexpectedly viral, user @lukeisamazing pointed out that a background gag in an episode of The Simpsons seems to have come to life, in the form of the new Warner Bros. release The Matrix Resurrections. In 2004, as the original Matrix trilogy was one of the most-discussed things in all of popular culture, the Springfield multiplex featured a poster for A Matrix Christmas, a made-up holiday special, in the episode "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner."

A bit like "Watchmen Babies," a Muppet Babies riff that appeared in an episode where Alan Moore had a cameo, A Matrix Christmas is the kind of project that seems too absurd to be true. Still, more than 15 years later, Warner Bros.' big Christmas theatrical release is The Matrix Resurrections. Is it explicitly a Christmas movie? Of course not. Still, it's going to be one of the most-discussed things in pop culture this holiday weekend, and will likely be a lot of families' "Christmas movie" given that you can see it for free on HBO Max for a limited time.

You can see the "A Matrix Christmas" poster in the tweet below.

The idea of The Simpsons "telling the future" has become a cultural meme in and of itself at this point: the beloved animated sitcom predicted Disney's purchase of 20th Century Fox, the Trump presidency, Elon Musk's space car, the US Gold Medal in Curling, and so much more. And, yes, they successfully made up a word that gained enough popularity to be added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Back in 2003, The Matrix Revolutions seemingly brought an ending to the series, leaving many audiences surprised not only that we'd be getting a fourth film, but that it would also see the returns of so many original characters. Understandably, fans are wondering if this is the beginning of an all-new trilogy or merely an epilogue to the previous films, and while the filmmakers involved haven't directly confirmed what the future will hold, WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff confirmed earlier this year, "Anytime Lana wants to make a movie, we're all in."

So maybe there's still hope for A Matrix Christmas, after all!

The Simpsons airs on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.

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