Aquaman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has landed a lead role in The Matrix 4. Abdul-Mateen II will join previously announced stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss. Director Lana Wachowski is back with the franchise for the mysterious fourth installment, which was just officially announced. After years of rumors, the movie is finally happening with original stars Reeves and Moss, which many believed would never ever happen. However, Wachowski and crew feel like now is the time to bring The Matrix franchise back.

It is believed that Lana Wachowski was meeting with actors over the past few weeks for a "secret role" in The Matrix 4. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has been chosen out of the actors Wachowski met with. Nothing about his character has been revealed at this time, which makes sense, since we know next to nothing about the sequel. However, Abdul-Mateen II will have a lead role alongside Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss. In addition to directing, Wachowski is also on board as the writer.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II broke out with his role as Black Manta in last year's Aquaman and had a role in Jordan Peele's Us. He was most recently cast to play Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale in The Trial of the Chicago 7 and has reunited with Peele for the new Candyman movie, which will hit theaters in 2020. It was originally believed that he was taking on the titular role in the upcoming horror movie, but that theory has been officially debunked. Instead, it is looking like original star Tony Todd will be back in the lead role this time around.

In addition to The Matrix 4, it was recently revealed another Matrix project is still in development at Warner Bros. Zak Penn announced on social media that his untitled project is still in the works and explained that it takes place before the events of the first installment. It remains to be seen if Penn's story will ever see the light of day now that Lana Wachowski is back on board with the franchise, but there still could be hope for the project at some point down the line.

As for further casting in The Matrix 4, it has been rumored Lana Wachowski is looking for an actor to play a younger version of Keanu Reeves' Neo, though that has not been confirmed at this time. Along with Wachowski, the story was written by Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell. Wachowski is also producing with Grant Hill and production is expected to begin at the beginning of 2020, which makes sense as a lot of the casting seems to be taking place right now. It's only a matter of time before we start seeing photos of Reeves on the set as Neo and we will more than likely see the actor doing nice things for the people who live by the set. Variety was the first to announce Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's casting.