How Long After The Matrix Trilogy Does Resurrections Take Place?

While The Matrix Resurrections comes 18 years after the original Matrix trilogy ended, the movie’s trailers hint it takes place much further into the future. It was rumored back in July 2021 that The Matrix Resurrections would feature a 60-year time jump following the events of The Matrix Revolutions, but the return of both Neo and Trinity made this seem unlikely. That is, until The Matrix Resurrections’ trailer finally revealed the return of Jada Pinkett-Smith’s original Matrix character Niobe, who is seen in old-age makeup as she speaks to a relatively younger Neo.

The original Matrix trilogy spanned from 1999 to 2003, culminating in the rebooting of the Matrix and the “real-world” deaths of both Neo and Trinity. The Matrix Resurrections returns in 2021, 18 years after the finale of the original trilogy, with both Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss’ characters seemingly aged accordingly with their actors. While these two suggest The Matrix Resurrections takes place along a similar timeline, the seemingly opposing revelations of both a young Morpheus and a much older Niobe throw a wrench into this perceived timeline.

Niobe and Morpheus both survived the war with the machines in The Matrix Revolutions, meaning that if the new film took place 18 years later as suspected, they wouldn’t have to recast or age the actors to fit in with the timeline. Jada Pinkett-Smith is actually younger than Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss in real life, which is why a much older Niobe doesn’t align with the relative ages of Neo and Trinity. The discrepancies in the characters’ ages seem to indicate that Neo and Trinity are living in a simulated timeline inside the Matrix that is different from the film’s real world. Niobe’s presence, however, suggests The Matrix Resurrection’s real world takes place several decades later.

While Agent Smith was seemingly destroyed in The Matrix Revolutions, the upcoming 4th entry in the franchise has now all but confirmed that the original trilogy’s villain has been reprogramed in the body of Jonathan Groff’s character. From what can be surmised from The Matrix Resurrections‘ trailers, it appears the movie will see Neo and Trinity as programs of their old selves, with the machines possibly finding their bodies in the real world and putting them back into the Matrix. This would explain why Neo and Trinity have only seemingly aged 18 years along with the timeline between movies, but Niobe is far older – possibly confirming the aforementioned 40 to 60-year time-jump rumor. As such, The Matrix Resurrections will likely see multiple timelines for its characters, with the real world being much further into the future.

The Matrix Resurrections taking place decades after the original trilogy would also solve the mystery as to why young Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) has taken over from the original Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). If the real-world timeline is 60 years from now, it’s possible the real Morpheus passed away in this time, leading the machines to program a younger version of him in the Matrix to trap Neo or the new One. When Neo is shown to have escaped the Matrix again in The Matrix Resurrections‘ trailer, Niobe informs him that war has ravaged Zion again, suggesting that Morpheus may have died in the battles long ago.

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Jordan Williams
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Jordan Williams is a Movie/TV Feature Senior Staff Writer for Screen Rant. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 2020 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Media Studies.

Jordan is based in Seattle, Washington and enjoys exploring the natural beauty the PNW has to offer. She runs on coffee and classic movies, taking pride in having watched every film on AFI’s 100 Greatest Films list and every Best Picture Oscar winner.

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