Matrix Resurrections 4 a Franchise

When the The Matrix Resurrections trailer dropped, so did my jaw. It was beautiful; upon first viewing, I was enthralled. Who wouldn't be? The original was a fantastic film that had everyone gobsmacked. It was inspired by incredibly well-loved films and media before it -- Ghost in the Shell (and anime in general), Neuromancer, and Simulacra and Simulation were just among the few sources cited by the Wachowskis.

Then there was the music. Not one, but two albums that absolutely lived in fans' CD players. The Matrix: Music from the Motion Picture featured artists such as Rage Against the Machine, Rammstein, Propellerheads, and Rob Zombie, while The Matrix: Original Motion Picture Score featured a gorgeous atmospheric score by composer and producer Don Davis.

And let us not forget the animated anthology The Animatrix, a series of nine short stories written by the likes of Peter Chung, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and Shinichiro Watanabe. This anthology essentially brought the film full circle by filling in the backstory, history, and creating other stories of struggle within the universe.

Upon subsequent viewings, I began to ask myself just why was there going to be a 4 anyway? I began to think back upon 2 and 3 -- sequels that are both loved and reviled for a variety of reasons that I'm not really going to go into here.

To put it bluntly, only one Sister (Lana) is on board with the project. Lilly felt the story was told. The end. But Lana thinks there's more. Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to get that "more" in 4. Here's what I think we are going to get instead.

• Rehash
• Sequels
• Clones, DNA caches, body heists

REHASH

Yikes, yes, I said it, and yes, I honestly believe it. I don't think anyone who has seen the trailer can deny it. This film isn't just for new fans, the folks who perhaps haven't seen the original or thought it perhaps a bit dated (Is it? I don't think so. Pretty universal message.), as well as the established fans. Warner and Lana are definitely interested in expanding the fanbase. As a content creator, I can understand this. So to connect to the two bases, a film with little new content and just different context is necessary. This is a reboot film (as much as I hate to use the term). Cashing in on all the good feels and scary moments (agent phasing, sticky mouths, kung fu, stopping bullets) of the original, Matrix 4 will "rehash" the first story for probably a good two-thirds of the film, if not four-fifths.

I expect that portion of new content to be an amalgamation of two things though: 1) Old content PLUS concepts/content that didn't make it into the original Matrix, and 2) material to link 4 to 5 and 6!

My reasoning behind this lies within the scene where Anderson is apparently buzzed out of his head on the blue/red pills doing his best Capt. Willard impersonation form Apocalypse Now to "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane. I'm thinking that's the content that didn't make it into the original. Also, listen to "White Rabbit" in full (or even just the first minute). Does it not sound like it was part of the source for the original film? Pills... White Rabbit... diving into strange realities...

Those two factors will lead to...

SEQUELS

But more than likely, if you hadn't already been thinking it, the idea was loaded into your subconscious, wasn't it? 4 is a probe, like the first Matrix, to see if audiences will like it enough fill theaters for two more films. Depending on how this first film goes, there could be a lot of enthusiasm or derision. Perhaps Lana wants to rework the series. Perhaps she was a little dissatisfied with the original trilogy. Many creatives go back and tweak their work. Sometimes the work becomes better, sometimes it falls flat. Only time will tell.

Which begs the question, how is this all gonna play out? Well, perhaps (and this could get fun if done correctly)...

CLONES, DNA CACHES, BODY HEISTS

If indeed the opening of the trailer mimics the opening of the fourth installment, we have Thomas Anderson, a man in therapy because he believes he is seeing things and feels he is "crazy", thus his doctor issues blue pills to keep him "stable" (and properly connected to the Matrix?).

How the heck is this even possible? A dead Neo was carried off at the end of the third film.

There are a couple ways this could be accomplished, and Lana really does have to present the best idea to keep a good portion of the fans (of the original series) from throwing their hands up in the air in frustration due to an overly complex or "silly" idea.

One way would be the old "VR within VR" trick. Yeah, this one seems kind of cheesy, but think about it... The Matrix was built to keep humanity happy and docile. Well, what is part of the process of keeping them that way is perceived rebellion? They realize what's happening, begin a revolt, win! Yaaaay! ...Only, it never happened. And it starts all over again.

I don't think that's the route the film will go. No, there is no doubt in my mind that Anderson/Neo is a clone. That in fact we are going to find out that all humans connected to the matrix have been clones for a very long time. (Actually both the above and this idea could be interwoven.) I mean, how else can the human race have babies (beyond Zion)? The machines have human DNA on tap and can produce as many clones as needed.

The twist of this may come in the fact that actually there are many Neos and many Trinitys, and that the matrix in Resurrections is not the matrix we know from the original trilogy.

In other words, Neo has always been Neo, and Trinity has always been Trinity through every iteration. And when the characters in the first films say "this has all happened before", they meant it literally. Neo is the cornerstone to a stable Matrix -- to balance, to keeping the slave-clone-batteries alive. At least, if I were writing this story, that's how it would be. It really only makes sense in the world of the fantastic. After all, why convolute it otherwise?

What about the characters of Zion? They must know about the clones? And Neo/Trinity? Well, yes, but that doesn't mean that they know that Neo/Trinity are the same people over and over again. After all, Zion is supposedly all but destroyed nearly every time. So the survivors who are humans with real human lifespans just pick up where things left off, probably not caring much about anything beyond survival (and raves, can't forget the raves), and continuing the myths.

If indeed the power complexes of the machines are being run by clones, might it be that a great many of the clones aren't really even sentient, and that in fact, are just braindead bodies? Could it be that most of the people in the Matrix are just "red dress" women, constructs to keep a few conscious human minds sated. For that matter, why do the machines even need sentient, conscious humans or clones? Just a body will do.

If clones are involved (or even if they aren't), there's a good chance that we are going to see a body heist. Neo is dead, but that doesn't mean that neither the humans nor the machines can't resurrect his old body or him in a new body.

Or perhaps, the machines simply have his mind in a matrix and so the humans are going to steal and deliver a clone body to a terminal to download Neo's mind. Or perhaps the humans have the capability to clone, so all they need to do is perform a DNAjack (steal Neo's DNA from the machines).

Maybe the whole first film was a simulation inside a simulation to give the humans hope that they have some kind of chance of escape -- the struggle that they desire, that keeps them sane... Maybe that's all the Matrix ever was.

There is so much potential and energy in this film, that frankly, if we're going to go down this rabbit hole once more, I'd prefer any of or something similar to the ideas above. Some extreme transhumanism in the mold of Iain M. Banks, Alastair Reynolds, Masamune Shirow (Haha! Maybe the humans will "Jameson" Neo by cloning only his brain and sticking him in a walking box. Or maybe the machines already did. Wouldn't that be a kicker?)

Certainly whatever the story offers, it will have to be one that will keep audiences interested enough in what may come after, because if Resurrections doesn't deliver, it's Game Over. Some fans may welcome that. Personally, I'm going in with popcorn, a drink and my mind wide open. I'm tired of judging media before I've seen it. I'm sure this film already has its haters out there, and that's okay, too. People will be people. I just hope it's a good time. If not, well... maybe in another twenty we can look forward to...

THE GERIATRIX