The Correct Order To Watch The Matrix Franchise

The Wachowskis' 1999 cyber-thriller "The Matrix" took the world by surprise. Although cyber-thrillers and V.R.-inflected sci-fi films were de rigueur throughout the '90s, the Wachowskis' unique blend of black-trench coat cool, overloaded action, and trippy pop existentialism shook the zeitgeist in unprecedented ways. The premise was powerful: in the distant future, humanity will be enslaved by intelligent machines and bodily stuffed into goopy cocoons. The electrical impulses in human brains are used by the Machines as a power supply, and every human being has a needle plugged into their skulls. In order to keep those impulses pulsing, the Machines have created an elaborate virtual reality for its living batteries, an electric realm called the Matrix. The Matrix is what you or I might call "the real world." 

The notion that our perceived lives are merely an illusion is quite ancient, and even the sci-fi spin on that philosophy goes back to at least 1963 with the publication of Daniel F. Galouye's novel "Simulacron-3." But "The Matrix" shoved its sci-fi existentialist ponderings directly into the popular consciousness in a big way. There is even a 2021 documentary film called "A Glitch in the Matrix" about people who, after seeing "The Matrix," began to believe in earnest that we are all living in a simulation. 

"The Matrix" spawned numerous sequels and spin-offs in the last 25 years, all building on the simple notions of the first film, eventually growing into something overblown and complex to the point of confusion. One can never fault the Wachowskis for their ambition, however, and even clunky too-long actioners like "The Matrix Reloaded" contain a lot of impressive stuff. 

Below is a list of the entire Matrix franchise — feature films, shorts, and video games — in the order it was released.

The nine canonical films and games, as they were released: 

• "The Matrix" (1999)
• "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003)
• "Enter the Matrix" (2003)
• "The Animatrix" (2003)
• "The Matrix Revolutions" (2003)
• "The Matrix Online" (2005)
• "The Matrix: Path of Neo" (2005)
• "The Matrix Awakens" (2021)
• "The Matrix Resurrections" (2021)

The video games are included because they are considered an official part of the canon, and the stories were written by Lilly and Lana Wachowski. Events that happened in the games do indeed reflect on what would happen later in the movies. For instance, in "The Matrix Online," the character of Morpheus, up until then played by Laurence Fishburne, was killed. He was resurrected into a new body (played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) for "The Matrix Resurrections." 

Neo, the character played by Keanu Reeves, is absent from "Online," but there was a rumor back in the late 2000s that an unseen character named Sarah Edmontons would prove to be his reincarnation ("Sarah Edmontons" is an anagram of "Thomas Anderson," Neo's human name before he exited the Matrix). The gender flip would have been in keeping with the trans allegory that undergirds a lot of "Matrix" lore. It was a series, after all, conceived by two trans sisters. Sarah Edmontons does not appear in movies.

"The Animatrix" was a series of nine animated short films, made by eight different directors, three of which were conceived of by the Wachowskis. The shorts take place variously across the history of "Matrix" lore, with a two-part film, "The Second Renaissance," explaining the entire backstory of "The Matrix" and how the Machines first arose. For clarity's sake, one can watch the Matrix events in chronological order, explored below.

In order of historical events, the series runs thus: 

• "The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance, Part I"
• "The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance, Part II"
• "The Animatrix: A Detective Story"
• "The Matrix" 
• "The Animatrix: The Kid's Story"
• "The Animatrix: Final Flight of the Osiris"
• "Enter the Matrix"
• "The Matrix Reloaded"
• "The Animatrix: Beyond"
• "The Animatrix: World Record" 
• "The Animatrix: Program" 
• "The Matrix Revoultions"
• "The Animatrix: Matriculated" 
• "The Matrix: The Path of Neo" 
• "The Matrix Online"
• "The Matrix Resurrections" 

Note that "The Matrix: The Path of Neo" takes place parallel to the events of "The Matrix," "Reloaded," and "Revolutions."

By 2005, "The Matrix" had played itself out. The cultural moment had passed and the series suffered from an acute case of overexposure; two features, nine shorts, and a video game all in one year was a lot to take. Additionally, long black coats and wraparound shades fell out of fashion, and "The Matrix" began to feel dated. The Wachowskis were already on to writing "V for Vendetta," and fans had shifted their attention elsewhere. 

"The Matrix Resurrections" was written and directed by Lana Wachowski without the aid of her sister. Lana was also the author of multiple "Matrix" comic books, indicating that she was more keen to keep the series alive. Fittingly, "Resurrections" shifts into a metanarrative about an in-universe video game, also called "The Matrix," which was a big hit in 1999. Reeves returns as a burnt-out office wonk, forced to make a 20-years-too-late "Matrix" sequel by an oppressive corporation. The most disappointing thing about "Resurrections" was that it possessed any sci-fi elements at all; it would have been more powerful if Reeves remained in the real world and "The Matrix" was now just an oppressive fiction that took over his life.