Hugo Weaving reveals why he is not returning as Agent Smith in The Matrix 4

While a number of stars from The Matrix trilogy returned for The Matrix 4, one of the most glaring omissions was Hugo Weaving, who explained why he isn’t coming back.

The 60-year-old actor, who played the nefarious Agent Smith in all three of The Matrix movies, was promoting his new movie Measure For Measure when he told Collider the real reason he’s not returning.

Weaving revealed that he was approached to return, and was planning on reprising his role as Agent Smith, but scheduling complications could not be ironed out. 

‘Lana was very keen for me to be a part of [The Matrix 4]. I really wanted to because I’m very, very fond of all of them,’ Weaving began.

The actor added he, ‘had some initial reticence about the idea of going back to revisit The Matrix, after having already done three films, but then I read the script and got an offer to my agent.’

‘I immediately responded yes to that, and then we went into negotiation. I was doing a play, at the time, but we were working out dates and things so that I could do both,’ he added.   

The actor revealed that, ‘Lana decided that she didn’t wanna change her dates, so I couldn’t do it. In a nutshell, that’s what happened.’

The Matrix 4 started filming in San Francisco in early February, with production also slated to take place at Babelsburg Studio in Germany. 

Production was halted in March due to COVID-19, though filming resumed in Berlin last month. 

While no story details have  been revealed for The Matrix 4, a number of stars from the original trilogy will return.

Keanu Reeves will be back as Neo, alongside Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, plus Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe, who was featured in the sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.

A slew of new cast members have also been announced, such as Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Jonathan Groff, Yahya Abdul-Mateen III and Jessica Henwick.

Lana Wachowski, who wrote and directed The Matrix trilogy with her sibling Lily Wachowski, will direct The Matrix 4.

She will direct from a script she co-wrote with previous collaborators David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas) and Aleksandar Hermon (Sense8).

Warner Bros. has set an April 1, 2022 release date for The Matrix 4, though it remains unclear how much filming remains.