The Matrix Revival Films Will Expand Franchise Into A Shared Universe

It was announced last year that Warner Bros. was developing a fourth Matrix film with writer Zak Penn, who made it clear that he has no intention of rebooting the franchise. While Penn was promoting his upcoming film Ready Player One (Release date: March 29), he revealed that he plans to expand the existing Matrix universe. He said that he's been "harassing" Warner Bros. to revive the franchise back for several years. Here's what he told ScreenRant:

"I've been working onMatrixright now. Which is in…a phase right now. That's a franchise I desperately want to see brought back and, I can't go in to too much detail, but I've been harassing Warner Bros. for years to try to get it going again so that's one thing I'm working on and I've been working on a bunch of other things too."

The writer went on to discuss the differences between The Matrix and the OASIS from Ready Player One, calling them both "brilliant universes":

"I think OASIS (the virtual space inReady Player One) is similar. Both the Matrix and OASIS are similar in that they are brilliant ideas for universes… When it came out aboutMatrix, people were like ‘Oh no, there going to rebootMatrix' I was like, Why, I'm not insane. I mean,The Matrixis still one of my favorite…they'd re-releaseThe Matrixand people would go see it."

The Matrix Revolutions provided a closure for the trilogy of films directed by Lana and Lily Wachowski, so Penn and Warner Bros. would have to figure a way to revive the franchise and introduce a new conflict. I'd rather see new characters featured in a new story but I think it would be cool to see Keanu Reeves reprise his role as Neo in the upcoming films even if he's not the main character.

There is currently no director attached to the fourth Matrix film, and there's no indication that the Wachowskis will return to the franchise.

Read more: New Ready Player One Trailer Actually Explains The Film's Plot