“The Matrix 4” is happening. After years of lying dormant, the franchise is coming back with Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and filmmaker Lana Wachowski all returning to tell yet another new story in the sci-fi universe. But there are some big-time ‘Matrix’ heavyweights that aren’t involved, such as Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving, who play Morpheus and Agent Smith, respectively. We already heard from Fishburne as to why he’s not involved, but now we have Hugo Weaving explaining the reason why his Agent character won’t appear in the new film.
READ MORE: Laurence Fisherburns Explains Matrix 4 Absence: “I Have Not Been Invited”
Weaving told ComingSoon that he was involved with the development of “The Matrix 4” from early on. He said that filmmaker Lana Wachowski called him up and talked with him about the feature. He added, “So, yes, Lana was very keen for me to be involved in ‘The Matrix.’ There was a reading with Keanu, Carrie and myself and a few others from the old family.”
But somewhere along the line, things fell apart. And the way Weaving presented the story in the interview, it doesn’t appear that he’s fully sure exactly what went wrong.
“I loved a lot of it and wasn’t sure about other bits,” he explained. “Ultimately, we talked about it and when the offer came through to do it for Warner’s I said yes the next day and I talked to Lana.”
And apparently, it was during the discussions with Lana Wachowski when things started to fall apart.
“I thought we could have done my scenes in May, June and July; and we talked about money and we talked about — they were negotiating,” Weaving added. “And we were all pretty much sorted and agreed on dates and it was all fine, but then Lana decided she didn’t think it was going to work. So, she pulled the plug on the negotiations. That’s where it ended up. She basically didn’t feel that my commitment to the National Theatre was going to fit in with the dates that she had in mind for me.”
Even though Weaving isn’t part of the upcoming ‘Matrix’ sequel, the actor does say he’s “looking forward” to seeing the film and feels that it’s a “shame” he’s not in the cast. We’re sure there are plenty of fans that would probably feel the same way about his exclusion. Unfortunately, we won’t know the exact details about how Weaving’s Agent Smith would have figured into the new sequel until we actually see the film for ourselves. Obviously, in the cannon of “The Matrix,” the Agents are a major part of the films and a huge part of the final battle for the future of humanity in “Matrix Revolutions.”
“The Matrix 4” is now scheduled to hit theaters on April 1, 2022.