Will Smith May Be Starring in the Next Matrix Movie
Is Will Smith ready to take the red pill? After the last decade of his personal life, you’d think so, but I’m actually talking about the movie from which that metaphor derives: The Matrix. Smith has a bit of a history with the landmark sci-fi film from 1999; at one point, he was offered the role of Neo, the computer hacker who discovers the world is a simulation run by machines to keep humans docile while they use us for batteries, and that he may be the chosen one who will save us from our sedated servitude. But he passed, opting to star in Wild Wild West instead, which was not his best career move. However, Smith recently made an Instagram post that has many speculating he may have another shot at the Matrix series (click on the embed below to see the video):
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I have to say, that’s a strong indication that Will Smith is about to star in a Matrix movie. We know there’s another one on the way, this time not from either (or both) of the Wachowskis but from Drew Goddard, the director of The Cabin in the Woods (which is amazing) and Bad Times at the El Royale (which is very good), and the writer of both of those (the former with Joss Whedon) and The Martian, as well as episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alias, and Daredevil. We don’t know anything about the plot of the next Matrix movie, so it’s conceivable that there will be a new lead character played by Will Smith. Or, considering how various characters looked different and were played by different actors in The Matrix Resurrections (to disastrous effect), the last film in the series, maybe he’ll be playing a Matrix-altered Neo. Or maybe this is just some weird thing Will Smith is doing on social media, and he’s not in The Matrix 5… but I doubt it.
It’s also hard to get excited about that. The Matrix should have been one movie; it ended on the exact right note and was a satisfying singular experience. But, as Hollywood is known to say, “Moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney,” so the Wachowskis cranked out two more to complete a trilogy. Almost two decades later, in 2021, Lana Wachowski returned to make a fourth, and it was up there (down there?) with the worst movies ever made, a completely nonsensical disaster that established Trinity as the co-One with Neo, and the more important one at that (shocker). The Matrix Resurrections is so bad that many speculate Lana Wachowski intentionally made a bad movie to sabotage Warner Bros.’s attempt to rejuvenate the franchise. I like that idea, but even if it’s true, it clearly didn’t work because here we are, with the Wachowskis removed and a new Matrix film on the way, apparently with Will Smith involved to some degree. I guess that means Keanu Reeves is done with the series, and I don’t blame him; after taking away everything that made Neo special, what else can they do with him?
Give him a Big Willie Style makeover, I guess. From a marketing standpoint, I get it; nobody really wants another Matrix movie, so they have to do something drastic to get people’s attention, and casting one of the biggest movie stars of the 90s is an attention-grabber. And aside from the improbably revived Bad Boys series, he doesn’t do many blockbuster movies anymore, sticking more to dramas nowadays, so he’s probably not as hard a get as he used to be. But, again, this feels like a waste of everybody’s time, especially Drew Goddard, who could be doing something much more interesting. He was in the running to write and direct the next Spider-Man, and instead, he’s performing CPR on a franchise that never should have been one in the first place. That being said, Will Smith’s Instagram post is pretty cool in itself and a good way to get people talking. Maybe they can wrangle Hugo Weaving back and have Smith face off with the best thing to come out of these films.
Let us know what you think of Will Smith starring in the next Matrix movie in the comments!
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