“The question remains: What would The Matrix have been liked with Will Smith as Neo?” reads the Instagram message
Is Will Smith entering the Matrix? On Monday, the actor shared a cryptic post on his Instagram about his decision to pass on the role of Neo in the original Matrix with a few interesting questions. The post has fans believing that he'll be joining the upcoming Matrix movie.
“In 1997, the Wachowskis offered Will Smith the role of Neo in The Matrix. Smith turned it down. He chose Wild Wild West, believing it was a better fit for him at the time,” read the message on Smith's Instagram “But the question remains: What would The Matrix have been liked with Will Smith as Neo?”
“Wake up, Will…” the video continues. “The Matrix has you.”
Back in 2019, Smith posted a YouTube video explaining his decision to not star in the film, which ended up going to Keanu Reeves. Smith said he was worried he might become known as “the alien movie guy” after he starred in Men in Black a few years prior.
“They came in and they made a pitch for The Matrix and, as it turns out, they're geniuses,” Smith said in the video. “But there's a fine line in a pitch meeting between genius and what I experienced in the meeting.”
The teaser from Smith comes nearly a year later HollywoodReporters confirmed that a new Matrix movie was in the works, directed by Drew Goddard. Goddard's enlistment would replace the Wachowskis, who led the first three episodes of the film series, and Lana Wachowski's The Matrix Resurrections in 2021. Lana will serve as an executive producer for the new film.
“It is not hyperbole to say The Matrix films changed both cinema and my life,” Goddard said in a statement last April. “Lana and Lilly's exquisite artistry inspires me on a daily basis, and I am beyond grateful for the chance to tell stories in their world.”
