When a fourth Matrix movie was finally announced, the obvious conclusion is that sisters and co-directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski would both be returning to the franchise. So it was quite a surprise to learn that Lana would occupy the sole director’s chair for The Matrix: Resurrections. Now Lilly Wachowski explained why she chose to leave Neo, Trinity, and the others behind.
Her answer is quite simple, really: She didn’t want to.
“There was something about the idea of going backwards and being a part of something that I had done before that was expressly unappealing,” she said at a Television Critics Association panel for her current TV series on Showtime, Work in Progress (via Winter Is Coming).
“Like, I didn’t want to have gone through my transition and gone through this massive upheaval in my life, the sense of loss from my mum and dad, to want to go back to something that I had done before and sort of walk over old paths that I had walked in, felt emotionally unfulfilling and really the opposite. Like I was going to go back and live in these old shoes in a way. And I didn’t want to do that.”
Lilly Wachowski made three Matrix movies; it’s very reasonable that she wouldn’t be interested in making a fourth. And, as she notes, having only publicly come out as a trans woman in March of 2016, has grown a lot since the trilogy came to a close.
Her desire to leave the past in the past, and keep moving forward in her life, is completely understandable. She was also very circumspect to speak on behalf of her sister and her own decision to return to The Matrix, only saying Lana that had “different reasons” for deciding to make Resurrections. And that’s fine too!
Former stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jada Pinkett-Smith have also returned to The Matrix: Resurrections, which is currently set to premiere in theatres and on HBO Max on December 22. If you want to hear about the first footage from the film, you can check out our recap here!