The Matrix Resurrections trailer analysis, Easter Eggs, and throwbacks

The revolutionary The Matrix franchise is back and reloaded, with filmmaker Lana Wachowski some new spectacles, new characters, and new mysteries.

The Matrix Resurrections trailer sees Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss return as Neo and Trinity, but it seems their efforts to bring peace to the war between man and machine have come to an end.

Follow us down the rabbit hole as we spot the Easter eggs that could help find the potentially unsettling or life-changing truth about what's going on with the One.

The Matrix Resurrections will premiere in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously starting Dec. 22.

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Black cat

'The Matrix Resurrections' trailer: black cat. Warner Bros. Pictures

While the feline standing atop of Harris' desk may seem random, the black cat was a significant symbol in the original trilogy. During the hotel ambush sequence in the first film, Neo comes across the same black cat twice, giving him déjà vu. This is one of the first times he's made aware of a glitch in the Matrix.

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Cracking the code

Part of what made Neo the One is that he became able to see the constructs of the matrix as code. He's able to better deal with adversaries because he sees them as streams of data. As he talks to the therapist, viewers see that in his dreams he's framed by these streams, and possibly sees them in someone's eyes, but he likely has forgotten what it means to see this.

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Bullet time

One of the coolest, most innovative things The Matrix trilogy did is use the technique of bullet time. The Wachowskis placed cameras in a 360-degree circle around the action, and then stitched those images together in a way that made the audience feel like they're moving around a slow-motion scene, seeing the ripples in the air as a literal bullet shoots toward Neo. The Resurrections trailer has one real blink-and-you-miss-it instance of this within Neo's dream sequence.

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Machine work

Speaking of blink-and-you-miss-it moments, there's another quick flash of Neo on an operating table with the machines working on his body. It was discovered previously that the abilities that make Neo the One were essentially given to him by the machines the humans have been warring against, and helps him lead a truce between the two factions. If he's being operated on again in Resurrections, he will likely have new powers, but does it lead to what may be the end of the peace between man and machine.

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Back to Trinity?

The new trailer offers a glimpse at what seems to be a woman, likely Trinity, with guns to her back. The shot is reminiscent, if not a recreation, of the opening of The Matrix where Trinity overpowers the police that are pursuing her, and makes a hasty escape.

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Egg pod

While the ageless Reeves makes it hard to tell if the flash of Neo spilling out of an egg pod is a shot from the original trilogy, him jetting out of a liquid-filled cocoon is the first thing that happens after he takes the red pill in the first film. He has now exited the Matrix.

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Blue pills

The trailer explicitly shows Neo taking blue pills, implying that he's choosing to live within the Matrix, remaining ignorant of the potentially unsettling or life-changing truth that comes when taking the red pill, and entering the harsh reality that was the man-machine war. With him later spilling his blue pills down the drain, the trailer suggests that Neo has an awareness of their effects, so he may have been taking them on his own free will.

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Alice in Wonderland

In the first Matrix, Neo is set on his path of enlightening discovery after Trinity tells him to "follow the white rabbit." Sountracked by "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, the Resurrections trailer zooms in on Priyanka Chopra Jonas reading Lewis Carroll's novel, which that phrase from Trinity alludes to, meaning the franchise newcomer could become one of the people that helps Neo possibly find his way out of the matrix.

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Man in the mirror

There's a moment in the trailer where Neo looks in the mirror and sees someone else, likely due to another glitch in the Matrix. It brings to mind an even weirder moment from the first film when after taking the red pill, he looks into a mirror and it liquifies, subsuming him, and bringing him into the real world.

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The red pill

The new trailer parallels the key moment where Laurence Fishburne's Morpheus first offers Neo the red pill. Fishburne is not one of the franchise's returnees though, so instead we see Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a new version of Morpheus who prescribes Neo the fated reality warper.

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The white rabbit

Neo realizes in The Matrix that the white rabbit he's supposed to follow happens to be a tattoo on the shoulder of Dujour (Ada Nicodemou), a hacker Neo hands some illegal software over. The Resurrections trailer spotlights Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist) as a new character that has a rabbit tattoo as well, likely serving as another guide on Neo's new journey.

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The door of light

As the sequel The Matrix Reloaded dives deeper into the lore of this world the Wachowskis built, the concept of a door of light is introduced, which is basically a backdoor to the Matrix that leads them to the architect of the virtual world. While there's no sign of that character returning, we do see Neo and Trinity walk through an illuminated doorway that suggests the concept is back.

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Kung fu

Once again paralleling another famous sequence from the first film, coming shortly after Neo memorably utters to Morpheus in wonder "I know kung fu," the Resurrections trailer shows Neo spar with Abdul-Mateen's character. This time, Neo has the upper hand, and blasts Abdul-Mateen away with his powers.

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Machine city

Those red pods shown in the portion of the trailer that gives a peek at all the machines' haunts are egg pods like the one Neo emerges from. As explained in the first trilogy, after the humans blocked off their access to solar energy, the machines began capturing humans and putting them in pods that would allow them to harvest the power of their bioelectric energy.

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Shifty agents

Agents are avatars operating on behalf of the machines, designed to eradicate anyone who's able to expose the truth about the Matrix. While it doesn't look like Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) is back, the shapeshifting power boost agents got in Reloaded is still on display in Resurrections.

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Rain check

The shot in the trailer of Neo kneeling as water from sprinklers rains from the ceiling and an agent points a gun at his head feels very similar to the moment towards the end of the first movie where Morpheus is surrounded by agents, having sacrificed himself in order for the rest of the crew to escape. Looks like Neo may find himself in the same position.

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Bulletproof

In terms of iconic moments from The Matrix, a close second to Neo dodging the bullet is when Neo returns to the Matrix with the ability to control it, and literally stops a whole wall of bullets just with the stroke of his hand. The new trailer proves that Neo's still got it.

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Ripple effect

As we mentioned before, the bullet time got all the buzz when The Matrix first came out, but an underrated VFX moment is when Neo and Trinity ditch a helicopter, which then crashes into a building and causes a ripple as if it was a giant drop of water. Now, once again on the run in the trailer, Neo and Trinity deflect a helicopter missile, which then hits a building causing a similar effect that looks like waves rushing to shore.

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High hopes

The trailer's last moment of action sees Neo and Trinity leap off the top of a building with no indication of how they won't plummet to their death. The original trilogy provides many high-rise escapes — Trinity's opening scene in Reloaded being a highlight — but the biggest question based on the shot in Resurrections is can Neo still fly like he could by the end of the first film? That would surely be a remedy for the situation they're in.