It’s not a secret that Will Smith was originally offered the role of Neo in “The Matrix.” However, he chose not to do that and, instead, take on “Wild Wild West.” We all know how that worked out. Keanu Reeves took the role of Neo and made film history. And Will Smith? He recovered okay after the bombing of “Wild Wild West” and is still one of the biggest stars in the world. But what if Smith actually did have a role in “The Matrix” franchise? Well, we might soon find out.
Update: Whatever he’s doing, he’s apparently not in the next ‘Matrix’ movie according to Variety. Superbowl ad?
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In a new cryptic social media post, Will Smith shared what seems to be a tease that he is about to accept a role in “The Matrix” franchise. The post is a video of computer text on screen, detailing the story that I recapped above. But it ends with a question—what would “The Matrix” have been like with Will Smith as Neo? Then the reply is simply, “Wake up, Will… The Matrix has you…”
So, either Smith is trolling fans in a major way or it is about to be announced that Will Smith will show up in an upcoming ‘Matrix’ film. What film might that be? We already know that Drew Goddard is set to write and direct a new film in the franchise. That was reported way back in April 2024.
The real question is about the role of Neo. Are they going to pull some ‘Matrix’-y shenanigans and somehow cast Smith as the new Neo, replacing Keanu Reeves? That would definitely risk upsetting fans of the franchise because Reeves is so beloved in the role. But with the ‘Matrix’ franchise already okay with recasting, as we saw with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II taking the role of Morpheus from Laurence Fishburne in the most recent film, “The Matrix Resurrections.”
Like anything teased on social media, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully, we find out soon enough.
You can see the post below:
