…techno, martial arts, and black leather! Why a Matrix relaunch could work

I’m a huge fan of The Matrix, and from a creative side of things, an even bigger fan of the overall universe/ concept of the property. On the other side of things, I’m lukewarm to outright “will turn the movie off because I’ve been bored to tears” when it comes to Matrix: Reloaded and Matrix: Revolutions.

The movie, along with a few other creative sources, propelled me into my career as a writer of all things super heroic, epic, sci-fi, and all around kick ass.

So when I heard that Warner Brothers was giving some thought to possibly restarting the franchise, I thought I’d just share a few opinions. Really trying not to rant here.

There’s enough of that on the internet, so call this a “calm laying out of ideas/ thoughts”.

-In the second movie Col. Sanders, I mean The Architect, established that there had been other “One’s” in the vein of Neo.

He explained that fights/conflicts like the ones of the Matrix trilogy had happened before, suggesting that this was sort of an endless loop.

So like it or not, the Wachowski’s left the door open for more stories to possibly be told for a concept which they no longer completely own (when they sold the idea to New Line Cinema/ Warner Bros.).

Unless they signed a kick ass deal which put the complete rights of the franchise in their hands, then WB always had the possibility of telling more stories in this universe without them, and they inadvertently (or maybe that was their plan from the beginning) provided a really solid jumping off point for future stories to be told.

It would be nice for Warner Bros to bring them in on a creative front, but legally speaking, they probably aren’t obligated to. Definitely sucks, I know.

Or not, which leads me to my next point……

-As much as I love The Matrix (one of my favorite movies of all time and a trend setter for modern sci-fi film) the subsequent sequels were a’ight to just horrible. I’m not a huge fan of the Animatrix as a whole. Enjoyed some of the shorts. Others just weren’t my cup of tea.

So any other stories that could be told in this universe, which is extremely expansive, should be told probably by someone else.

I like Sense 8 well enough, and even enjoyed that Channing Tatum roller skating in the sky space opera movie they directed, but with the subsequent Matrix sequels and other movies they’ve directed since then (though I hear Speed Racer has a cult fan following) I’d rather have them on as producers, or hands off, sort of in the vein of Lucas and the current round of Star Wars.

-There are some awesome creators who can tackle this material in the form of screenwriters and directors who could kick ass in this universe, and I think they deserve a chance to tell stories set in the world of The Matrix. Once again, look at the Star Wars franchise, and the hiring of such modern/ talented storytellers as J.J. Abrams, Gareth Edwards, Rian Johnson, Phil Lord and Chris Miller to continue to expand this universe.

Heck, I’d be up for writing an expanded universe comic for The Matrix.

Warner Bros: hit a dude up.

-I think between this possible relaunch and the burgeoning Harry Potter film-verse restart with Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, I feel that Warner Bros. is trying to get a viable franchise in their hands because the DC film-verse is currently just not cutting it.

Though the Matrix movies steadily got bad in quality, they still made a crap ton of money, and that’s all these studios care about.

-Lastly, don’t do a reboot. Just pick up with another The One as suggested by Col. Sanders. Create a new story, new conflict, higher stakes, etc.

That’s about all that I have. Just a few opinions.

Please discuss below, share, and be civil. 🙂

I hated and loved this year in the same breath. At times my anger towards this year has grown to mountainous proportions, leaving me in a  valley of grief, frustration, and anger. At other times, I’ve been so filled with elation that I can feel myself about to burst with happiness.

My father died this year after battling cancer for a number of years. My Dad. The Q Dog. The New Yorker. Columbia University graduate. Worked on Harold Washington’s campaign. The guy I could talk politics with to the wee hours of the night. My protector. A father. A husband. A brother. A friend. The man who supported me in all of my nerdy endeavors, and helped to cultivate my love of comics, sci-fi, fantasy, and all geeky/ creative things.

I miss him so damn much I find myself at times breaking down. That’s where the valley of grief and hurt come into play.

It’s getting better though.

On the other side of the coin, this was the year that we successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign for a second/ larger print run for Route 3: Vol 1. The year where folks stepped up and put their money behind a seemingly unknown comic book series, and just took a damn chance on us. Then the book was nominated for a Glyph Comics Award. There’s that elation part.

To follow this up, I was chosen for the 2017 DC Comics Writers Workshop. After my second year of applying, I’m chosen along with five other talented writers amongst a field of THOUSANDS of other applicants.

Once again there’s that elation part. That I’m getting closer to my ultimate dream of making a full time career out of writing. A career where I can take care of my family, and just be happy with what I’m doing for the 9-5.

But guess what life has to say? F’ that noise. Found out about a month or so back I’ve getting laid off of my full time job.  My third lay off since I’ve been out of college, from a job where I was at for three years. From a job which literally was just to pay the bills.

I’m ranting now. I know. That’s what this year has felt like. Just one long rant with seemingly no break in sight.

At the end of it all though I’m probably more at peace now than at any time in my life. There’s that overarching concern of getting a job, but I’m not worried. I can do this.

So let me just leave you with this: life can be excessively crappy. Like “kick you down to the ground, and laugh at you while you try to climb back up” crappy.

At the end of the day though the way you handle the crappy moments is to just exist, and do you. That’s why the worry, and concern are now to a minimum. I’ve made it my goal to find a CAREER and not just a JOB. It’ll be difficult as heck, but I’m going to move forward and stay out of that valley.

See you later 2017.

Hello 2018.