Top 10 Amazing Details In The Matrix Resurrections Trailer

The first “Matrix” film famously included allusions to Lewis Caroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” with talk of going down the rabbit hole. “Resurrections” looks to be seriously doubling down on the parallels. In the trailer, we’re graced to the sounds of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” which you can imagine is about the aforementioned work. But with lyrical talk of pills making you larger and smaller, it’s hard to believe the band didn’t foresee the “Matrix” movies back in the ‘60s. In any case, it is a definite mood-setter, and a thematically appropriate one at that. Feed your head, indeed.

As if a song about “Alice in Wonderland” wasn’t clear enough, we get visual confirmation when Neo enters a café of some kind. The woman at the counter is reading the Carroll classic and its sequel “Through the Looking Glass.” We have a feeling that the Resistance is trying to communicate with Neo to wake him from whatever trance he’s found himself in. The reason the woman can be trusted? Note the color of her glasses, as they match the red pill Morpheus famously uses to expose people to the truth. And if we’re looking under the surface, the book cover is revealed at about 01:01, which is binary code for computers and Neo’s apartment number in the first movie.

Though we usually think of Neo as being clean-cut, his return here shows the look Keanu Reeves has been sporting as of late. We call it the John Wick. Sidebar: what if “John Wick 4” and “Matrix 4” are actually the same movie? Probably not, but we can dream. Anyway, Neo’s look does change a few times in the trailer, as first we get a glimpse of an older man in the mirror. Whether this is an aged up Neo or someone else makes us wonder if it’s not his body in the real world. Either way, he is seeing it through a looking glass, no? Fear not, however, as he does appear to don his signature trench coat later on.

Continuing the references to “Alice in Wonderland” comes Jessica Henwick’s character, who for now we’ll refer to as the Blue-Haired Girl. She approaches Neo with promises of the truth, and flashes him her rabbit tattoo. Much like Alice followed the White Rabbit, so too will Neo follow the Blue-Haired Girl, but it’s not the first time he’s picked up on this cue. In the first film, he’s prompted to follow two customers of his, Choi and Dujour, the latter of whom sports the familiar tat. This isn’t the only callback in the trailer, as Neo looks at birds that curiously move like the squiddy Sentinels. And Neo looks to be getting into another lobby shootout, which will hopefully be as baller as the first.

It just wouldn’t be a “Matrix” movie without some black-suited baddies stirring up trouble for our heroes. While Hugo Weaving won’t be reprising his role as the delectably villainous Agent Smith, we will see a familiar face in Daniel Bernhardt’s Agent Johnson. And it seems he’s up to his old ways by taking over the body of a bluepill. We probably can’t talk about bad guys though without mentioning Jonathan Groff’s character. While who he’s playing remains under wraps, we have a feeling he’ll be getting down and dirty, as Neo is seen fighting someone who appears to be Groff in a setting reminiscent of the underground subway platform from the first movie. Sorry, Jonathan, but we can’t trust you anymore after “Hamilton.”

While the trailer doesn’t come out and say it, we’re pretty confident that Neo has found himself unwittingly trapped in the Matrix. I mean, there are numerous indicators, but none more so than when Neo’s in an elevator with passengers who are, in more ways than one, plugged in. The “Matrix” movies already felt like they were ahead of their time, but 2021 finally catches up to them with the inclusion of some sheeple who are maybe even literally enslaved by their own devices. Thankfully, Neo seems to be getting wise to the grand illusion, but are we? Is this the Matrix? Are we being pacified with awesome trailers like these? If so, it’s working.

Speaking of shattering the grand illusion, Neo looks to be picking up old tricks of his own again, slipping back into his role as the One. In what looks to be another dojo within the Sparring Program, Neo blasts away a young Morpheus (more on him later). Then he does something similar as a shockwave pushes back a whole SWAT team. However, the pièce de résistance of his moveset has to be stopping the bullets, which he does here as well. But this is a sequel, after all, and the trailer goes even bigger by having him redirect a missile of some kind into an enemy helicopter. After all that he’s done, are we sure Keanu isn’t the One?

In the first film, Neo is clued into the concept of the Matrix and ultimately rescued by Trinity and the Resistance upon being unplugged. Here, it seems the opposite may come to pass, as Trinity appears to be plugged into the Matrix herself under control of the Machines. Unfortunately, though, she seems to have no memory of him, and it probably has something to do with that bracelet of hers that looks an awful lot like the Squids. Furthermore, Neo starts to see the coding embedded in Trinity’s program, indicating she may not be completely real. And she likely isn’t the original version, considering her apparent death in “Revolutions.”

Upon the casting of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, speculation was rampant that he would be playing a younger version of Morpheus. And it looks like the simplest answer was the correct one. While we’ll certainly miss Laurence Fishburne in the role, this casting decision has us excited, and in more ways than one. As to how it affects the movie, it has us wondering if “Resurrections” won’t be playing around with time, what with Old Neo in the mirror and the literal resurrection of Trinity. As for how the new Morpheus will be explained, it could have something to do with the shot where he astonishingly touches the same kind of substance Neo walked through with the Blue-Haired Girl.


Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

A Trinity of Screams
The Shot of Trinity Screaming Into Multiple Personas Has Us Intrigued

Do Not Pass Po-Po
The Blue-Haired Girl Hops a Cop Car With a Sign in the Background Clearly Telling Her Not To

A Sitting Duck
A Presumably Oblivious Neo Bathes With a Rubber Metaphor on His Head

While we knew we were watching a “Matrix” trailer, the first twenty seconds or so gave us a lot of early teases. For starters, a cat is seen walking across the desk, indicating another glitch in the Matrix. Then, Dr. Neil Patrick Harris uses an interesting word to a guy who’s good with guns. After some dream talk, get a lot of indications that Neo, or “Thomas,” is in the Matrix, from the circuit-like pattern of the wall paper to the blue of the therapist’s sweater and glasses. Clearly, someone has Neo taking the blue pill, but he soon wakes up to the truth. Based on the quality of this trailer, we’re taking the red pill all the way.