Wait, Does The Matrix Resurrections Include A Cameo From A Venom Star?

Tom Hardy and Venom
(Image credit: Sony Pictures)

In just over a week, fans of The Matrix will get to finally see something that they likely never expected to be able to see. The Matrix: Resurrections will give us a fourth movie in the franchise, but at this point it’s still hard to tell just what sort of movie this will be, or how it will fit into the larger franchise. Another question we now have, that we were not expecting to be asking, was whether or not Tom Hardy will be appearing, because it’s quite possible.

As has been covered previously, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, was filming in San Francisco at the same time that The Matrix: Resurrections was. The two productions were so close that the Venom sequel actually took advantage of helicopters being used on the Matrix movie for its own production. It turns out the references may go both ways, as Venom himself, Tom Hardy might be visible in a crowd scene in the new Matrix movie as well.

The Matrix: Resurrections co-star Jessica Henwick recently told Den of Geek that she met Tom Hardy while filming her movie, and that there’s a scene in the film where the two of them, with Henwick out of character, are running around in the background. Although at this point it’s unclear if the shot of them is in the movie. Henwick explains... 

And so, Tom Hardy and I are running in the background of one of the scenes. And I'm so curious to see whether it made the cut. I can't wait to get a digital copy of the film, because I'm actually in the background in a bunch of scenes as me, Jess. So if someone zooms in, they'll be like, 'Wait. Is that [her character] Bugs in the background, in the mob, running?

It sounds like Jessica Henwick put herself in the background of scenes often enough that she will almost certainly be in some of the San Francisco city scenes, what we don’t know is if the shot of her and Tom Hardy made it in. And depending on how the scenes were shot, it may be quite difficult to recognize them even if they’re in the movie. 

One the one hand, if there are shots of Jessica Henwick in the background while she’s also playing her character of Bugs in the movie, that might seem a little strange. On the other hand, it is The Matrix so actually that idea sort of works in its own way. 

The Matrix: Resurrections will hit theaters and HBO Max on December 22. If you like you can go searching for Tom Hardy in the background, but it seems likely that the new Matrix movie will have a lot going on in the foreground that will require attention.  

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.