It’s been 20 years so you may not remember that the role of Neo in The Matrix was originally offered to Will Smith, who famously turned it down. He recently spoke about it and said he’d tell his younger self not to choose Wild Wild West over what would turn out to be one of the iconic sci-fi movies. Well, the upshot is that the Smith clan still managed to be part of it, with Will’s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith joining the franchise with The Matrix Reloaded and continuing on to play a major part from that point on. She was even featured in the Matrix video games. And now, she’s coming back.
Deadline reports Pinkett-Smith is in final talks to return as Niobe in The Matrix 4. She’ll join the returning Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and new additions Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Neil Patrick Harris in the sequel written and directed by Lana Wachowski.
Niobe was a freedom fighter and one of the Resistance’s leaders, sharing a special relationship with Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne. We’ve heard rumors of a younger Morpheus being part of this movie, but that remains unconfirmed. If Morpheus is involved in this story it makes sense for Niobe to be included.
The Matrix 4 begins shooting early next year.
