With The Matrix 4 now only just over a year away, excitement amongst fans is palpable. While we wait and see how exactly director Lana Wachowski is bringing back killed-off characters such as Keanu Reeves' Neo, The Matrix 4 star Jessica Henwick has revealed that seeing humanity's saviour resurrected proved to be an exhilarating experience for her and her co-stars.

"It's trippy. I grew up watching these films. The first time Keanu spoke in character and said Neo's lines, Yahya [Abdul-Mateen II] and I shared a look like, 'Oh my god, it's happening!'"

If the excitement behind-the-scenes is this high, just imagine what it will be like on screen. While specific details regarding the plot of The Matrix 4 continue to remain a mystery, many have speculated that 2003's The Matrix Reloaded contains clues as to how Neo will be brought back. The sequel reveals that there have in fact been several versions of The One, leaving many to wonder whether this version of Neo will be a brand new one, different to the Neo from prior movies, something that was alluded to further recently when Reeves was spotted out and about with a buzzcut similar to the first The Matrix.

Aside from being giddy over the return of Neo, Jessica Henwick has used her time on set well, even creating a pitch for a John Wick spin-off that she has already presented to Keanu Reeves. "I pitch Jess Wick to Keanu all the time," she said of her proposed idea. "I'm probably driving him crazy. Though the other day, we did have a blast because I started just acting it out. I was like, "Okay, Keanu, listen to me. Boom. John Wick 4, last 5 minutes, credits roll, post-credit sequence. Boom! You see my face, Jess Wick." (Laughs.) I just started acting it out and then he started acting it out, too. We put on this little ten-minute show of what Jess Wick and John Wick would be like. Chad Stahelski, the director of all the John Wick movies, is flying out in two weeks, I think. So I'm going to go straight up to him and I'm going to say it. And yeah, watch this space."

The highly anticipated sci-fi sequel recently returned to filming after a pause in production, with Reeves since revealing a few insights into what audiences can expect when they plug back in. After praising director Lana Wachowski, Reeves described The Matrix 4 as a "love story," before giving us some idea of the direction of the highly anticipated sequel. "We have a wonderful director, Lana Wachowski, and she has written a beautiful script that is a love story, it's inspiring," Reeves said recently. "It's another version, a call to wake up and it has some great action. All will be revealed."

The Matrix 4 finds Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Lambert Wilson reprising their respective roles from previous installments. The movie will also feature a line-up of new faces including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Toby Onwumere, Max Riemelt, Eréndira Ibarra, Andrew Caldwell, Brian J. Smith, and Ellen Hollman.

Thanks to the recent reshuffle at Warner Bros., The Matrix 4 is now scheduled to hit theaters several months earlier than expected, moving from April 1, 2022, to December 22, 2021. Which means that, rather aptly, Neo, the sci-fi messiah, will now arrive around Christmas. This comes to us from NME.