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. Recently, Will Smith stirred up theories on Instagram after posting a cryptic video hinting that he could be in a future Matrix movie, but it turns out that wasn’t the case at all.
Update 1/30/25: Will Smith Releases Matrix-Themed Music Video for “Beautiful Scars”
Will Smith’s The Matrix-themed music video for his project with Big Sean has now released. You can check out all its Matrix-y goodness right now.
UPDATE 1/23/25: Will Smith, you marketing genius. Deadline‘s suspicions that the actor was dropping a new music project and not starring in a new The Matrix film was spot on. Will dropped more information on his IG page, including some behind-the-scenes shots of him filming some very Matrix-like scenes and even rocking the those infamous shades. Today, Will finally confirmed that his new project is a song he is doing with Mr. Anderson. No, not that one. It is Sean Anderson, better known as rapper Big Sean. Their song and music video for “Beautiful Scars” dropped on January 30. You can check it out above. We guess that means Will is less Neo and more Morpheus.
UPDATE 1/8/2025: Recent reports by The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline suggest that Will Smith will not be involved in a new The Matrix movie. The former said insider information revealed that Will Smith will not be a new The Matrix project, but it is not clear what Smith is referring to in his video (posted below). Meanwhile, Deadline seems to believe that this clip is tied to an upcoming music project by Smith. So far, Will Smith’s reps nor the man himself are telling anyone anything.
Original Article Below
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.
Originally published January 6, 2025.