Check out the details of the clever marketing and promotion for The Matrix Resurrections and the release date of the full trailer below.
Ever-Changing teaser
Warner Bros. shared an update on The Matrix Resurrections through their official Twitter and YouTube, linking to the old “What is The Matrix” site. Depending on what time you go to the website https://thechoiceisyours.whatisthematrix.com/, the teaser shots being shown are constantly changing. This is also the case depending on which pill you click on.
— The Matrix Resurrections (@TheMatrixMovie) September 7, 2021 In following the mythology of The Matrix franchise, visitors to the site can choose either the red pill or the blue pill. The two choices generally represent choosing the truth, however difficult and how massive the alterations to your life will be, or choosing the status quo, keeping things as they are because one is comfortable with it, even though it is not the actual truth. By choosing either the red or blue pill on the website, visitors will be treated to a different cinematic and narration. In an interesting touch, the cinematic will begin by the narrator telling you what the exact time it is, based on where you are and your computer’s internal clock. This is a clever way of counting down toward the actual full trailer which according to the teasers will be on Thursday, September 9, 2021 at exactly 6AM Pacific Time. This, of course, is a nod to one of the main themes of The Matrix which is that reality might not be what you think it is, and that we all might be living in a simulation. The teasers themselves show very quick scenes taken from both the original Matrix trilogy and the upcoming sequel. The Matrix was revolutionary for establishing modern tropes used in action and science fiction movies, such as the cyberpunk and martial arts, as well as the “bullet time” slow motion. The Matrix drew inspiration from sources such as Blade Runner, William Gibson’s Neuromancer, Shadowrun, and Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles comic book, among others. Fans of the franchise will recall that at the end of The Matrix Revolutions, Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) both perished in order to save the city of Zion and enact a sort of peace treaty with the machines controlling the Matrix after Neo defeated Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) who had become a virus that threatened both warring parties. However, Neo died while he was still jacked in to the Matrix while Trinity suffered fatal wounds earlier outside and not connected to it. Hopefully, the new film resolves this potential continuity gaff. Many fans found the resolution to be anticlimactic and felt that the denouement left nothing changed about the status quo between the humans and the machines. Some even questioned if there ever really was peace after Neo’s sacrifice. This open-ended ending was supposed to have been explored in The Matrix MMORPG that, sadly, did not live up to expectations.
Matrix Revelations
What little we can discern from the teasers of The Matrix Resurrections is that Neo and Trinity seem to have survived in some way. They are living in the simulation of The Matrix, but their lives will again be changed. In one shot, we even get to see a very brief glimpse of Neo as an older and slightly different looking man. There are also shots that include the character being played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, Candyman), looking at a mirror and in another fighting Keanu Reeves’s Neo in a martial arts dojo reminiscent of the training simulations from the original film trilogy. Although his role is still unclear and there are rumors that he is playing a younger Morpheus, previously portrayed by Lawrence Fishburne, but that is unconfirmed. Another key scene that is included in the teaser is that of the character played by Jonathan Groff experiencing the horrific body alteration that closes his mouth shut, as if it never existed. Fans of the original Matrix trilogy will recall this happening to Neo during his interrogation by the Agents in the first movie. Other quick scenes in the teasers mainly hint at the action and the series of events that will lead Neo into remembering his past and that the Matrix is just a simulated version of reality. What could these events be and how will they play out? It looks like we will all find out at exactly the same time when the full trailer comes this September 9. The Warner Bros. Pictures official description of The Matrix Resurrections reads: The Matrix Resurrections stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jada Pinkett Smith, Christina Ricci, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Telma Hopkins, Toby Onwumere, Eréndira Ibarra, Max Riemelt., and Brian J. Smith. Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures in association with Venus Castina Productions and Village Roadshow Pictures, The Matrix Resurrections will be a dual same-day release to theaters and available on HBO Max this December 22, 2021.
