The Matrix Resurrections Trailer Seems To Show What Happened Immediately After The Matrix Revolutions

There are plenty of intriguing details to examine in the first trailer for "The Matrix Resurrections." Not only does the movie look absolutely gorgeous, but it's also sparked some interesting sequel comparisons. However, there's one particular detail we noticed that might give us some idea of how Neo (or Thomas Anderson) finds himself back in the Matrix after rebooting it in "The Matrix Revolutions."

If it's been awhile since you've seen "The Matrix Revolutions," we don't blame you. The end of "The Matrix" trilogy didn't exactly deliver a satisfying conclusion, especially when compared to the incredible set-up done by "The Matrix Reloaded," which still absolutely rips. But here's how the story wrapped up.

In the end, Neo allowed himself to be assimilated by Agent Smith, so the rogue program who was taking over the Matrix with clones of himself could be deleted once and for all. After facilitating the function of The One, the Matrix is rebooted, just as it has been several times before. The Architect and The Oracle agree that peace will last "as long as it can." But The Oracle believes that they will see Neo again, and it turns out that she's probably right.

Early in the trailer for "The Matrix Resurrections," when Thomas Anderson is having a therapy session with a therapist played by Neil Patrick Harris, there is a fast montage of quick shots. Two of those shots appear to reveal what happened in the real world immediately following the events of "The Matrix Revolutions."

When Neo sacrifices himself in the Matrix, his body dies in the real world, and he's seen being carried away by the machines. These two shots would appear to reveal exactly what happened to Neo afterwards. One overhead shot (at the top of the page) shows a variety of machines surrounding Neo, who is laying in a pool of water with cables covering the ground. Then, the close-up shot (seen above) appears to show him hooked into the Matrix, with cables protruding from his body, just as they did when he was being harvested for his energy as a human battery.

What tells us that this sequence follows the events of "The Matrix Revolutions," you might ask? If you look at Neo's eyes in that shot, they're burned, just as they were in "Revolutions." Bane, the human whose body was assimilated by Agent Smith just before exiting the Matrix, uses a power cable to completely burn out Neo's eyes. This left him blind until he realized that he was able to see with what amounts to a third eye, revealing what is essentially the source code of the real world, which might actually hint at the possibility of a Matrix within the Matrix. But that's a theory for another time. 

As for why the machines decided to hook Neo back into the Matrix after he already proved to be quite a problem for them, we're not sure. But we have a few months before the movie comes out, so hopefully more details will surface to help fuel our ongoing speculation.

"The Matrix Resurrections" hits theaters and HBO Max on December 22, 2021.