One of the most famous “What If?” questions in movie history is what The Matrix movies would’ve been like with Will Smith as Neo. As many fans know, Smith was offered the leading role as Neo by the Wachowskis but he turned it down in favor of the Wild Wild West movie. Obviously, one movie became a whole franchise and one of the most influential sci-fi movies of all-time and it was NOT Wild Wild West. (FWIW, I actually think that movie is a ton of fun and he was great in it.) Will Smith has always maintained that he is okay with his choice and, honestly, it is hard to imagine anyone other than Keanu in that role. But now Will Smith is stirring up theories on Instagram after posting a cryptic video hinting that he could be in a future Matrix movie.
The video mimics the blacked out computer screen that Neo saw a message on in the original film. The initial screen of orange text says the following:
In 1997, the Wachowskis offered Will Smith the role of Neo in The Matrix. Smith turned it down. He chose Wild Wild West, believing it was a better fit for him at the time. But the question remains: What would The Matrix have been like with Will Smith as Neo?
The following screens are what really got fans going. They say “Wake up Will…” and “The Matrix has you…”
Will Smith posted the strange Matrix message without further captions, which led to people losing their minds in his comments. Is Will Smith going to star in a new The Matrix movie? Will he team up Keanu Reeves for it? Is this film a reboot or just one that takes place in that universe? Or is Will just playing with people’s emotions because he likes to do that on IG? We don’t know but it seems like he’s hinting at something coming soon. His long-time creative partner DJ Jazzy Jeff posted fire emojis, indicating that he is aware of what The Fresh Prince is up to. Let’s see what happens in the near future.
