The Matrix Resurrections took fans of the series back into the world of Matrix. While the film was packed with nostalgic references, meta-humor, and the classic Matrix-style action, it received mixed reviews from the audience and critics alike.
While some deemed the narrative complex, others thought it wasn’t necessary to have the fourth installment itself. However, as someone who has seen the original trilogy, I think the film tried to evolve and be relevant to the current times while adding more depth to this vast universe.
If you’re a fan of the franchise who wants to catch up on the story before watching the fourth installment, this watch order is for you. Alternatively, if you are new to this series, you can read this watch order guide and get started!
The Matrix franchise includes 4 prominent live-action films, several animated short films, and games. While most people know about live-action movies, animated shorts and games create an engaging experience while giving us more context about this universe.
Here’s the complete watch order guide for The Matrix series.
1. Release Order
- The Matrix ( March 1999) | Live-action film
- The Matrix Reloaded (May 2003) | Live-action film
- Enter The Matrix (May 2003) | Video game
- The Animatrix (June 2003) | Animated anthology series
- The Matrix Revolutions (November 2003) | Live-action film
- The matrix Online (April 2005) | Video game
- The Matrix: The Path of Neo (November 2005) | Video game
- The Matrix: Resurrections (December 2021) | Live-action film
This release order includes the four films, animated shorts, and games that expand on the universe giving it more meaning. However, these titles do not follow the chronology of the release order when it comes to the story portrayed in them.
So, if you watch all these films and play the games in their release order, it might be a little tricky to understand the chronology of events.
2. Chronological Watch Order
The chronological watch order below can help you understand how the story flows and how different character arcs progress across films, shorts, and games.
- The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance Part I and II
- The Animatrix: A Detective Story
- The Matrix
- The Animatrix: Kid’s Story
- The Animatrix: Final Flight of the Osiris
- Enter the Matrix
- The Matrix Reloaded
- The Matrix Revolutions
- The Matrix: Path of Neo
- The Matrix Online
- The Animatrix: Beyond
- The Matrix: Resurrections
- The Animatrix: World Record
- The Animatrix: Matriculated
- The Animatrix: Program
The events showcased in the game Enter the Matrix overlap with the events in Final Flight of the Osiris. Besides this, the rest of the timeline is sequential, so you don’t have to worry too much about connecting dots between two parallel events.
3. Runtime and Binge Duration
While the live-action films come up to a duration of 9 hours, The Animatrix series is 102 minutes long, making the complete franchise about 10 hours and 40 minutes long. You can either binge it in one go over the weekend or watch one film a day along with the shorts.
4. Where Can I Watch The Matrix Series
You can watch all four The Matrix live-action films on HBO Max. Besides these, The Animatrix shorts are available on Amazon for $1.99 (Rent) or $4.99 (Buy).
5. Conclusion
The Matrix universe is pretty complex and might also take you a couple of watches to completely absorb all the little details. Therefore, I recommend you to watch it in the chronological order given above since it’ll make the world relatively easy to understand and enjoy
6. About The Matrix Franchise
The Matrix is an American media franchise consisting of four feature films, beginning with The Matrix (1999) and continuing with three sequels, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions (both 2003), and The Matrix Resurrections (2021). Besides these, the franchise also includes animated anthology and the games such as The Animatrix, Enter The Matrix, and The Matrix: Path of Neo
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