'The Matrix 4': Release Date, Cast And More

(Welcome to ...And More, our no-frills, zero B.S. guide to when and where you can watch upcoming movies and shows, and everything else you could possibly stand to know.)Lilly and Lana Wachowski's 1999 science-fiction action blockbuster The Matrix is possibly the most famous cyberpunk property in existence. Now, 22 years and two sequels later, we're ready to take the red pill once more and return to cyberspace in The Matrix 4. Here's everything we know about The Matrix 4.

The Matrix 4 has gone through its share of COVID-related delays, much like any other film from the past year and a half. The original release date was May 21, 2021, though that got pushed because of the pandemic.

While The Matrix 4 is probably the kind of action thrill-ride that merits a trip to the theater, fans will be able to enjoy it at home on the same day as well. As part of the HBOMax same day release schedule, The Matrix 4 slides into theaters and HBOMax on December 22, 2021. Fans who want to bullet-dodge with Neo and co. from the comfort of their couch will have to act fast, however, as The Matrix 4 will only stream on the service for 31 days.

The Matrix 4 is the fourth installment in the Matrix series, which started with The Matrix in 1999 and was summarily followed by The Matrix: Reloaded and The Matrix: Revolutions in 2003. The first film told the story of Neo (Keanu Reeves), a hacker who turns out to be the prophesied hero of mankind. Following a war between humanity and the machines they built, the machines put everyone in tubes and connected them to the matrix, a kind of virtual reality that people believe is reality. Neo must fight the computer program Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) with the help of his mentor, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and his new romantic interest, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss). After defeating the machines and gaining some superhuman powers at the end of the first film, Neo must go up against bigger adversaries in the second and third installments.

The sequels were not particularly well-received by critics or audiences, though there has been a reappraisal of them in recent years. The Matrix: Revolutions ended with Neo sacrificing himself to connect the machines to himself, hopefully to create lasting peace. Details on the plot of The Matrix 4 have been kept extremely secret, leaving us to guess at how they might bring back the machine-ending messiah.

Writer and director Lana Wachowski will return to direct The Matrix 4. She co-wrote the script with novelists Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell, whom she previously worked with on the Netflix series Sense8. (She also made a movie of Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, a novel once deemed unfilmable.) Oscar-winning cinematographer John Toll (Braveheart) will take over for  Bill Pope as director of photography. Concept artists for the original films Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce will return, which means The Matrix 4 will have their signature cybernetic visual designs.

Quite a few members of the cast from the original trilogy are returning. Reeves and Moss are returning as Neo and Trinity, and Jada Pinkett-Smith is returning as hovercraft captain Niobe. Fishburne will not be reprising his role as Morpheus, however, and Weaving will not return as Agent Smith.

There will be plenty of new faces in The Matrix 4, however, including Christina Ricci, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Jessica Henwick, Toby Onwumere, Brian J. Smith, Eréndira Ibarra, Andrew Caldwell, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Jonathan Groff. We have no idea who any of them are portraying, though some outlets have reported that  Abdul-Mateen II will play a younger version of Morpheus in flashbacks.