Warning! Spoilers Ahead For The Matrix: Resurrections!
Neo and Trinity escaping the matrix and taking control of the latest rendition of the simulated world, which they intend to alter, with an emphasis on freedom. While the end-credits scene does not add to the core narrative in any way, it is intended as a fun glimpse into what some of the blue-pills in the matrix are up to.
Neo, a game developer and creator of The Matrix video game trilogy within his reality, lives out his days as the prescribed identity of Thomas Anderson. His parent company, Deus Machina, is overrun with agents and handlers, who do their best to keep Neo from learning the truth about himself via manipulative subjugation. At the end of Resurrections, the audience is transported back inside Deus Machina, wherein the core team is still discussing viral ways in which they can replicate the viral success and legacy of the previous Matrix game installations.
In The Matrix: Resurrections end-credits scene, of the workgroup continue pitching ideas for The Matrix 4 video game, even though Neo nor Thomas Anderson are present among them. One of the quips that the whole idea of intricate, elaborately crafted movies and games are dead, and the key to virality is to tap into a viral format of cat videos, which they can dub as “The Cat-trix.” This, of course, banks upon the fact that cat videos will always remain an internet sensation, and resorting to a fail-safe format would be more lucrative than going for a fresh and innovative idea.
None of this is meant to be taken seriously within the context of the narrative. The end-credit scene is simply a continuation of the installment’s acute self-awareness to the point of hilarity. A good example is the Warner Bros. quip made by Jonathan Groff’s Matrix character, wherein he explains how they absolutely need to make a Matrix reboot/sequel game at their parent company’s behest or lose their contract with them altogether. While this works well as a clever meta-reference within the ambit of the franchise, Wachowski also manages to iterate the fact that some stories, no matter how familiar or repetitive, never end, and are meant to be retold in different iterations, ways, and renditions.
Another reason why Resurrections incorporates this particular end-credits scene is to deliberately make a point regarding the prevalence of such sequences in of franchise-building. As the presence of a mid or post-credit scene is generally a glimpse into a continuation of an established world or a teaser for what comes next, the deliberately underwhelming and borderline futile nature of the same in The Matrix Resurrections subverts expectations. Not only does it shatter expectations for a potential Matrix 5, but it also continues a meta-commentary about cats, whose presence establishes a sense of deja-vu within the franchise.
