Earlier today, Will Smith took to Instagram to casually share some news with his nearly 70 million followers. The reel, which you can see below, recaps the superstar’s notorious career decision back in 1997 to pick Wild Wild West over The Matrix . “What would The Matrix have been like with Will Smith as Neo?”, the post asks, then adds “Wake up, Will.
.. the Matrix has you.
..” With no caption or context—most people already knew Smith turned down The Matrix , which went on to become a genre-defining blockbuster, and also can recall with a chuckle at how Wild Wild West ended up turning out—the post immediately set a fire of speculation across the internet.
The most obvious response would be that Will Smith is appearing in a new Matrix movie—and such a project is indeed in the works. According to news that broke last year , Drew Goddard (The Martian, The Cabin in the Woods) is writing and directing a fifth Matrix film, with series co-creator Lana Wachowski aboard as executive producer. At the time, no casting or story details were shared, and that’s still the case—and that includes anything to do with Smith’s involvement.
After his Instagram post went viral, io9 reached out to Warner Bros., but the company—which owns The Matrix —didn’t know what Smith was talking about. A similar “uh, no” reaction came from Hollywood Reporter film editor Aaron Crouch, who tweeted through his personal X account that “Will Smith is not starring in the new Matrix mov.
