The MATRIX 101 - Understanding The Matrix Trilogy

PD Wood has created another surprising tale in an effort to further the Matrix mystique. Below is an introduction to Matrix 4 - The Super Matrix followed by an excerpt, which the author has kindly allowed The Matrix 101 to share with our readers. Show your interest and appreciation by visiting thesupermatrix.com to read the complete feature length manuscript and offer feedback on what we consider to be one of the most original extensions of The Matrix Trilogy that we've come across.
- Ed

Matrix 4 -The Super Matrix paints a picture of what might have happened before The Matrix and after The Matrix Revolutions. Sort of a prequel/sequel, I guess; and a bit of a mind bender, if I do say so myself. The story picks up exactly where Matrix Revolutions ended.

You can comment on and download the complete manuscript at thesupermatrix.com. Positive or negative, I'm very interested in knowing what people think of it. Matrix 4 - The Super Matrix is copyrighted in the Library of Congress, so please don't reproduce it without permission.

The document is not in official screenplay format because it was not intended to be made into a movie. (But in the interest of learning to write a properly formatted screenplay and because I'd like professionals in the movie business to read the story, I've decided to also post a version in official screenplay format in the near future…as soon as I learn how to write one!)

Check out the excerpt below if you want a taste.

I love the first two movies in the Matrix Trilogy, The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded. They bring together so many great elements- action, science fiction, comic book styling, metaphysics, virtual reality, love story, unique characters, incredible special effects, awesome soundtrack, etc- and they do it brilliantly.

I loved parts of Matrix Revolutions, too. The story that revolves around Zion and its imminent attack is awesome, as is the final showdown between Neo and Smith. But something seemed to be missing. The characters of the Architect and of the Merovingian & Persephone were so compelling and intense in Matrix Reloaded that I thought they would play more prominent roles; and the characters of Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo seemed to lose a lot of their presence.

And for the final episode to match or even outshine the others, I felt it needed to have a real mind-bending surprise or twist.

I thought about it a lot. The more I thought about it, the more ideas keep pouring out of my head. On a whim I decided to write down some of those ideas; the whim quickly snowballed into a juicy story. I often talked about my ideas with my friends. One of them finally said, "You keep talking about another Matrix. Why don't you stop talking about it and just write the damned thing". So I started writing.

The more I wrote, the bigger it got. The bigger it got, the more I felt like I wanted to give up since I hadn't planned on devoting so much time to it. On the other hand I didn't want to waste the time I had already put in by simply abandoning the project, so I kept writing. And writing. And... you know.

Well, it's finally done. I hope the people who like it, like it a lot; and I hope the people who don't like it, don't get too pissed off at me because I thought I had a right to add onto someone else's vision. I wrote it purely for the fun and challenge of such an undertaking; hopefully, it will be as fun and challenging for people to read.

The Matrix Trilogy has remained a Matrix Trilogy so far, and that probably won't change. But who knows; perhaps…just perhaps, the Wachowski brothers will catch wind of this and think it worthy of consideration as one more layer of a truly great tale. In the mean time this screenplay is purely for the reading enjoyment of all those who love and believe in the Matrix mystique.

And to the Wachowski brothers, please accept that the creation of this story is meant only as a complement to The Matrix Trilogy. My effort is fueled purely by admiration; few works of art could have inspired me to pursue such an undertaking. I have nothing but respect for your vision.
PD Wood

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
A WOMAN is sitting at a dressing vanity, naked except for some very skimpy, almost see-through lingerie. She's making herself up for the evening. She starts talking to a MAN in another room as she starts brushing her hair.

Neo walks over to just behind and to the side of where she is seated. It's a younger Persephone, perhaps in her mid twenties. She keeps brushing her hair and staring into her reflection, appearing unaware of Neo. She startles him slightly when her eyes shift to him through the mirror.

Neo reacts with the embarrassment of a voyeur. She puts down the hairbrush and starts putting on some lipstick, still watching and talking to him through the mirror.

She continues to apply her lipstick. Neo thinks about her question, but she answers before he has a chance.

She finishes her lipstick and, looking very sensual, stands up and turns to face him. She takes a step towards him and kisses him briefly on the lips.

She gives him a long, slow kiss. He only half resists. At the end of the kiss she is lost in ecstasy. A few moments pass. She opens her eyes and looks deeply into his.

Dressed in an expertly tailored dinner jacket, shirt unbuttoned three buttons down, a younger looking Merovingian (whose real name is Victor) comes into the room.

There is no indication that Neo's presence in the same room with his almost naked wife is somehow unusual. He looks Neo up and down as if he's known him for years but has never really looked at him carefully.

The Merovingian looks back between his wife and Neo a couple of times with approval.

She nods approval and gives Neo another look as he and her husband turn to walk into the adjoining library. As they walk off, the dressing room curls up behind them, and is absorbed into the library.

INT. LIBRARY - NIGHT
The Merovingian goes to a wet bar, pulls down two cognac glasses and some cognac, pours them both a toast's worth, and raises his glass, smiling.

Neo nods, they kink glasses and drink. As the Merovingian walks up and looks into a full-length mirror on the wall, his happiness shifts to sad reflection.

The Merovingian looks back at Neo.

He downs the remainder of his Cognac.

He looks very tense. Then, angrily, he turns and looks back into the full-length mirror on the wall. Neo is standing behind the Merovingian who shouts.

He throws his cognac glass at the mirror. The cognac glass shatters. But the mirror (with its reflections of them and the room) remains intact. And Neo and the Merovingian remain standing but everything else in the library breaks into shards (as though it were the mirrored reflection) and falls to what would be the floor surface (if it were still there).

EXT. MOUNTAINOUS LANDSCAPE - NIGHT
What was the room is now a dark mountainous landscape. The mirror is still standing. The Merovingian turns to face Neo but the Merovingian is now Jarcon.

Glass shards start rubbing against each other. Neo looks down and in all the shards are images of Smith who simultaneously reply.

The shards slowly come together around Jarcon's feet and, as they are absorbed into him, serpentine strands with Smith heads begin to grow out from Jarcon's neck and body. Neo draws back. Jarcon's head morphs into a dragon's head with eyes dripping venom and a mouth dripping lava. The monstrous Hydra-like form grows enormous with a hundred Smith heads dancing on serpentine tentacles. The creature attacks, grabbing and wrapping Neo in one of its long tentacles like a snake wrapping its prey. It squeezes, Neo winces. As he's being slowly brought towards its mouth, he closes his eyes and concentrates. He visualizes the GIRL FROM THE ORACLE'S ROOM who could levitate balls. Neo causes surrounding rocks to hurl towards the creature but the Smith heads only swallow them. He tears out an enormous tree and sends it towards the creature's head but it is engulfed in flames when the creature spews lava at it. Neo struggles as the monster slowly draws Neo to its mouth and swallows him. It snarls triumphantly at the sky but shortly after starts to show signs of internal distress. With a wail of agony it starts to writhe around. The distress increases until it finally explodes. There is a vortex of explosion debris and light trails that obscures everything.

EXT. STREET - NIGHT
As the view slowly clears, the surroundings morph into night on the street of a typical Matrix construct. Neo surveys the damage. Many Smith bodies appear dead and immobile, strewn across an abandoned gritty urban street. Neo breathes a sigh of relief and exhaustion. He turns to leave but then senses something. Smith bodies start getting up slowly one by one. He turns to face them.