Is Neo really living in the Matrix during the events of The Matrix Resurrections? The highly anticipated fourth entry in the iconic Matrix franchise has only recently dropped its first trailer and given audiences a brief glimpse of what to expect from the film. With so much still unexplained, theories surrounding the plot, characters, locations, and continuity of the movie have become hot topics online, and one of these theories could prove that Neo isn't existing in the reality viewers are expecting.
In the trailer for The Matrix Resurrections, Neo reappears alive and well after supposedly dying at the end of The Matrix Revolutions (2003). Once again living under the name Thomas Anderson and existing within a virtual construct (as he was in the first film), Neo seems to have only vague memories of his prior life as the prophesied One, a savior who laid down his life to create a truce between humanity and the machines that rule the Earth.
It's obvious from the trailer that Neo is living within a virtual world, thanks to proof in the form of glitching visuals, morphing Agents, and the presence of The Matrix's infamous red and blue pills. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that the virtual world Neo calls home is the Matrix. To the contrary, there's ample evidence in the trailer that the construct Neo is living in (or perhaps imprisoned in) might not be the Matrix at all, but something else entirely.
In the final line of the trailer for the upcoming Matrix sequel, Jonathan Groff's still-unidentified character speaks the following line to Neo: "After all these years, to be going back to where it all started. Back to the Matrix." The way he says these words seems to indicate that the Matrix is a place that Neo is preparing to journey to, implying that the virtual world in which they're having the conversation isn't, in fact, the actual Matrix. While not seen in the trailer, the viral marketing website for the film confirms that this scene between Neo and Groff's character ends with Groff's mouth sealed shut in the same way Neo's was in the original film. Perhaps this is punishment for revealing the true nature of Neo's existence, or even for helping him find a way to return to the Matrix.
If the world we see throughout the trailer isn't the Matrix, then what could it be, and why is Neo jacked into this world instead of into the actual Matrix? The most likely answer is that Neo's virtual world is a prison made by the machines, a kind of containment for Neo's mind that prevents him from causing trouble for the machine mainframe and repeating the cycle of previous incarnations of the One. This could mean that other returning characters, such as Trinity and Morpheus, are nothing more than programs within this virtual prison, or perhaps echoes of Neo's memories playing out familiar moments from his past. A second simulation could also explain the presence of multiple plugs in the back of the character's heads, as seen in promotional images from The Matrix Resurrections' viral website.
