Is Will Smith about to re-take a famous missed opportunity?
As the legend goes, Will Smith was almost cast as Neo in The Matrix back in 1997. He turned it down to make Wild Wild West and Keanu Reeves ended up in the lead role, and the rest, they say, is history. Reeves went on to start in three more Matrix movies directed by the Wachowskis, and Will Smith went on to a have a pretty good career himself. But Smith as Neo was always one of Hollywood's most famous "What if" scenarios.
Well, Smith seems to be teasing some kind of Matrix collaboration. On Instagram, Smith posted a video message that outlines the famous story but asks the question, "What would The Matrix have been like with Will Smith as Neo?" and then posts a reply, "Wake up, Will...The Matrix has you..."
Sadly, The Hollywood Reporter says Smith won't be starring in the next Matrix movie, directed by Drew Goddard. In fact, nobody seems to know what Smith is teasing here, though we will hopefully find out soon.
In the meantime, The Cabin in the Woods director will be writing and directing the new Matrix movie for Warner Bros. Aside from The Animatrix animated film, this is the first mainline Matrix film that won't be directed by the Wachowskis, though Lana Wachoski will serve as executive producer on Goddard's movie.
The most recent Matrix movie was The matrix: Resurrections which was released in 2021. Starring Reeves as Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, Resurrections served as something of a conclusion to Neo's story that began in 1997. But given the scale of the universe, there are plenty of other stories that could be told in The Matrix universe.
We gave The Matrix Resurrections a 4 in our review, calling it "a bunch of really good ideas stacked together to make a bad - and sometimes ugly - film." Ouch.
Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor.
