In January 2020, Eréndira Ibarra was cast, with Priyanka Chopra entering final negotiations.[26][27] That same month, Lambert Wilson, who played The Merovingian in the sequels, revealed he was in negotiations to return.[28] Hugo Weaving, who starred in the franchise as Agent Smith, was originally approached to reprise his role, but he had scheduling conflicts with his involvement in Tony Kushner's theatrical adaptation of The Visit, leading Wachowski to conclude that the dates would not work after staying in touch with Weaving for a while.[29][30] Laurence Fishburne later announced that he was not asked to reprise his role as Morpheus.[31] Chopra and Wilson's castings were confirmed in February, along with the additions of Andrew Caldwell, Brian J. Smith and Ellen Hollman.[2][32][33][34] Joe Pantoliano, who appeared in the original film as Cypher, expressed interest in reprising his role despite his character's death in the first installment and messaged Lana Wachowski about the possibility of bringing him back, but received no response from her.[35]
In January 2020, Eréndira Ibarra was cast, with Priyanka Chopra entering final negotiations.[26][27] That same month, Lambert Wilson, who played The Merovingian in the sequels, revealed he was in negotiations to return.[28] Hugo Weaving, who starred in the franchise as Agent Smith, was originally approached to reprise his role, but he had scheduling conflicts with his involvement in Tony Kushner's theatrical adaptation of The Visit, leading Wachowski to conclude that the dates would not work after staying in touch with Weaving for a while.[29][30] Laurence Fishburne later announced that he was not asked to reprise his role as Morpheus.[31] Chopra and Wilson's castings were confirmed in February, along with the additions of Andrew Caldwell, Brian J. Smith and Ellen Hollman.[2][32][33][34] Joe Pantoliano, who appeared in the original film as Cypher, expressed interest in reprising his role despite his character's death in the first installment and messaged Lana Wachowski about the possibility of bringing him back, but received no response from her.[35]