Ever since Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss were announced as returning to reprise their iconic roles of Neo and Trinity from The Matrix Resurrections, fans have been wondering just how they will return. While we don’t have official answers yet, and I suspect we won’t until the movie is out, The Matrix Resurrections trailer may just have revealed how Neo could have been brought back to life.

The trailer begins with Thomas Anderson attending a therapy session after his troubled dreams won’t stop. This is then followed by a quick montage of shots of events that may be troubling Anderson. A few of these shots depict a bald Neo with damaged eyes lying down naked as the machines operate on his body in an attempt to bring him back to life.

For those who’ve seen The Matrix Revolutions, we know that Neo dies at the end of that movie in the Matrix and the last we see of him is his body being dragged by the machines. We then get a glimpse at what the Machine City looks like from Neo’s perspective, that had led fans to speculate whether he was truly dead. It turns out, some semblance of consciousness may still be alive.

That the Neo seen here has damaged eyes prove it’s the same Neo from the end of Revolutions. So essentially, the machines revive Neo, wipe out his memories and reinsert him back into the Matrix where he goes on to live his ordinary life as Thomas Anderson, probably oblivious to the events of all films where he saved humanity. That is, until something happens that triggers memories of those events as dreams, probably the emergence of a new cycle of the Matrix.

The Matrix Resurrections hits theaters and on HBO Max on Dec 22, 2021. Check out my breakdown of the trailer here.