One of the more unfortunate side effects of Marvel and Sonyfeuding over a Spider boiis the fact that feudcompletelyovershadowed the news we are getting an honest-to-goodnessMatrix 4starringKeanu ReevesandCarrie-Anne Moss. Also,Lana Wachowski is returning to co-write and direct. Why aren’t we all freaking out? Why aren’t you,specifically, freaking out?
Oh, right, the terrible sequels. But there’s plenty of reasons to be hopeful here, and today saw the reveal of another one.Geof DarrowandSteve Skroce—who served as storyboard and concept artists on the original Matrix trilogy along with Jim Martin—are also plugging back in for the sequel. Both artists are primarily known as frequent award-winners in the comic book world, but they’ve also both worked alongside the Wachowskis on not only The Matrix, but alsoV for Vendetta,Speed Racer, andJupiter Ascending.
Darrow broke the news himself on Twitter.
This is a bigger deal than it seems on the surface. Just as much as the groundbreaking CGI and mind-bending concepts, it wasThe Matrix’s singular look and feel that made it influential. There hasn’t been a sci-fi or action flick since that quite matched that specific aesthetic, which can only be described as “1999 Steampunk,” or “Leather Gun-Fu Assassins”, or “What If You Walked Into a Hot Topic But It Was Badass As Shit?”
Wachowski, who will be taking on directing duties without sisterLily Wachowskifor the first time, co-wrote theMatrix 4script withDavid MitchellandAleksander Hemon. Mitchell is an author who notably wroteCloud Atlas, the trippy novel the Wachowskis adapted into a 2012 film, while Hemon is an actor who appeared in the duo’s globe-trotting Netflix sci-fi series,Sense8.
