Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Matric: Resurrections.
Why Neo never uses a gun in The Matrix Resurrections. In The Matrix, Neo famously says that he needs “guns, lots of guns.” However, in The Matrix Resurrections, the fourth installment in the franchise directed by Lana Wachowski, Keanu Reeves' character manages to avoid the weapon altogether.
In The Matrix Resurrections, Neo is brought back to life and controlled by the Analyst, who managed to take over the Matrix and keep people in it more efficiently than before. Neo’s first run-in with guns is when the new version of Morpheus and Bugs try to rescue him from the Matrix, resulting in a shoot-out the Analyst later convinced Neo was all in his mind. Once Neo realizes what’s going on and takes back control over his life, he opts not to use any guns at all, merely redirecting and manipulating bullets when needed without ever having to pick up the weapons himself. Neo not using a gun is intentional. According to The Matrix Resurrections co-writer David Mitchell, “something’s changed” with Neo in the fourth film (though he doesn’t specify what exactly that change might be).
To be sure, Neo doesn’t actually need to use a gun since he’s much more powerful without the weaponry, capable of skilled hand-to-hand combat, flight, and telekinetic abilities to fight opponents, manipulate bullets and other objects at various points. Crucially, however, Neo is struggling with the trauma of a life once lived but not remembered. The lines blur between what is and isn’t real and that shakes Neo to his core. There’s also the fact that he’s been shot in the previous Matrix films, which likely push him to avoid using guns. That memory was probably dredged up after the shoot-out in The Matrix Resurrections, rattling him immensely. In The Matrix Reloaded, Trinity is also fatally shot and Neo has to remove the bullet from her heart. It’s no wonder the character is averse to picking up guns.
Past experiences certainly play a role in shaping Neo’s unspoken decision not to use guns. That he doesn’t employ the weapons in The Matrix Resurrections also speaks to the development of his character. The fourth film heavily parallels The Matrix and shifting from “lots of guns” to none at all shows how much growing Neo has done over the course of 20 years. And considering all of the trauma he’s sorting through in The Matrix Resurrections, as well as seeing all the damage and chaos guns can cause, it makes sense Neo would avoid picking up a weapon that likely triggers him in more ways than one.
In The Matrix, Neo used plenty of guns in shoot-outs; in the following two sequels — The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, the protagonist doesn’t use guns (save for an electric gun in a fight). The Matrix Resurrections largely carries on with this tradition of Neo not carrying or firing the weapons, though it’s a lot more evolved in the fourth installment considering all the character has gone through. While the reasons behind the choice is never confirmed in the film itself, Neo has moved past the need to use such weapons. And with the combination of his and Trinity’s powers, they’re far too sophisticated to bother using guns when they can control the entirety of the Matrix.