It's ti♑me to take the red one and see how far this ra⭕bbit hole goes.

That's right, it's time to plug back in and explore the incredible world of The Matrix Trilogy. The story of Neo, a man unplugged from a virtual world and thrust into a war between man and machine captivated audiences for years. Following a prophecy that he is The One, a hero destined to shut down the Matrix and stop the machines from enslaving the human race for good, the films combined incredible visual effects, martial arts fighting styles and a heavily science fiction influenced plot that drove audiences around the world into a frenzy. People fell in love with the story of Neo, his love interest Trinity, his mentor and best friend Morpheus and his nemesis Agent Smith. However, the world of The Matrix is not perfect by any stretch of the imag⛄ination.

Injuries to the actors stemming from pre-filming training sessions. Film studios who nearly nixed the famous directors who brought the franchise to life. Actors who tackled deadly stunts that nearly cost them their lives. ♋The franchise that science fiction fans around the world love and adore is filled with some truly disturbing facts you had no idea even existed.

So it's time to face off against the machines and check out the thirty dark facts about the Matrix trilogy you had no idea existed before. These facts will shoc🙈k you, ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚand perhaps change your perception of the films overall. Let's dive in, Mr. Anderson...

30 ღ Brother's Test

Films are not defined solely by the actors who bring certain characters or roles to life. The film wouldn't 🍎exist without the writers, set and costume des♋igners, the producers or even the incredible editing team that puts the film together.

However, the leaders of the film and this franchise are none other than the directors.

They guided everyone to create the best films possible. Everyone knows that the original trilogy was directed by the Wachowskis. However, Warner Bros didn't believe in them enough to have them take on the project right away. In order to prove themselves worthy of bringing The Matrix to life, they made a film called Bound, which saw a female ex con work with 🔥a partner to steal millions and frame her partner's corrupt ex-boyfriend.♏ The film became a success and allowed the directors to tackle the Matrix, and the rest is history.

29 𝐆 🧔 Not The One

Keanu Reeves is Neo, the hero of the franchise known as The One. A kind of messiah of sorts, he was a computer programmer inside the Matrix, and once he was liberated he learned he was far more connected to the Matrix than any other human, able to perform feats no one else could. Without the incredible performance and work of Mr. Keanu Reeves, this franchise would not have found the footing that lead to a major film legacy. However we♛ nearly had a very different Neo. The role was considered for actors Will Smith, Nicholas Cage, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio. Thankfully we avoided disaster and found the perfect Neo. That's not to say these other actors aren't good at their profession mind you. However the role of Neo is so iconic to Keanu that it's impossible to imagine these other actors bringing the role to life the way he did.

28 Morpheus' Se🐈cret Technique

Who is The One without his mentor? That's the question Warner Bros. nearly had to choose after it came time to choose the actor who would bring Morpheus to life. Neo's mentor and best friend Morpheus 🔴was brought to life perfectly by Laurence Fishburne. Morpheus was the man who rescued Neo from the Matrix. He explained to our hero that he was one of the millions of tank grown humans used as a power source for the machines, who took 🎶over the world decades earlier. Morpheus and a few others managed to escape the Matrix and work to rescue humans.

He taught Neo Kung-Fu.

He taught Neo the way the Matrix worked. Ultimately, he became Neo's closest friend and mos♏t trusted adviser. However, Mr. Fishburne wasn't the studio's first choice🌱. Actors Sean Connery, Russell Crowe and Samuel L. Jackson all read for the role, but luckily Fishburne won the day.

27 No Kicking ⛄— No Gain 🐼

This film franchise was a one of a kind adventure. Before filming began, the directors had all the actors spend🌊 four months training with a martial arts choreographer. This helped all the actors acclimate to the rigorous fighting regimen that each scene needed, as this was an action heavy film. However, the star of the film nearly had to cancel his training because of some serious surgery woes. Actor Keanue Reeves had to have special training for the film. While everyone had to learn choreography and fight training, Keanu had cervical spine surgery before training began. ♚This forced him to wear a neck brace throughout training, so his trainer Yuen Woo-ping adjusted Reeves training so that in the film he did very little kicking. So scenes that featured his fighting prowess may appear to feature fist fighting and little to no kicking. If you ever wondered why, now you know.

26 Hips Don't Lie 💯

While Reeves underwent surgery before training, Hugo Weaving, who portrayed series villain Agent Smith, had to have hip surgery after♛ being injured during his fight training. The training process for these films was super intense, and when actors throw themselves so fully into the training process they can sometimes come out with some pretty serious injuries. Sadly this moved the shooting schedule around a lot, and forced Weaving to film his fight scenes at the end of the film's production in order to give him time to heal from his injury. While the final product for the film came out perfectly, it's hard to picture an actor having to undergo so rigorous a training period, only to come out of the training with a major injury. Thankfully the injury didn't impact the final film, as it would have been difficult to s⛄ee a film without Weaving's perfect portrayal of Agent Smith.

25 🌜 Grueling Fil🤪ming

One of the most infamous scenes from the original film has to be the lobby fight scene. In this scene, Neo and Trinity arrive armed to the teeth, fighting through guard after guard in this building's lobby in order to rescue Morpheus from the Agents holding him. The scene was one of the longest scenes in the film, showing the two partners take on a small armada and absolutely decimating💎 the structure they were walking through.

It's the perfect scene to show off the theme of old school martial arts action films and modern day science fiction storylines combining perfectly.

While this scene was a complex one, it might shock you to know that the actors had𝔍 to spend ten days total filming it. That's because no special effects were used in the scene. Instead, all of the explosions, gunshots and෴ fight scenes were practical effects.

24 The Secret Promo Scandal ಌ

One of the best ways to promote a film is with a movie poster. Just look at the poster above. This was a huge part of drawing in the audiences to this incredible film franchise. The movie poster is so beloved and sought after with film audiences that studios have had a history of their products being stolen. Whether this involves theater employees or eager fans, these posters have a habit of disappearing. The film studios apparently feared that people would go around stealing the promotional materials for the film's sequel, The Matrix Reloaded. So they sent the posters in tubes labeled with "Caddyshack 2" and "The Replacements". The theaters were confused about why they were being sent ꦕthese film's promotional items, and so didn't open them up. It wasn't until the day before the film's release that they realized what was happening and had to scramble to put the materials up.

23 They Risked It All.🌺.. We're Lucky It Worked 🅠

One of the things that helps determine whether a film is a mega blockbuster hit or not is the budget of the film. The budget helps determine how strong a special effects budget the film has, how nice the costumes are and the caliber of the actors they can afford to pay for being a part of the film. Making The Matrix cost quite a fortune. The Wachowskis wanted to have a budget of $80 million to film. However, Warner Bros. only gave them $10 million. So they decided to take a risk and use all $10 million on the opening scene of the film, where Trinity hangs balanced and frozen in time as she goes to kick a security guard and make he🍒r escape. The scene impressed the studio so much that they ended up giving the filmmakers the original $80 million they had asked for.

22 ♛ ꧒ Defying The Odds

Most actors refer to professional stunt men or women in the scenes that prove dangerous to film. These scenes can lead to an actor's untimely death if not done properly or if an accident occurs that an actor is not prepared to account for. That's why stunt actors exist: to help bring scenes involving high octane action to life on 𝕴the big and small screen. However, Keanu Reeves is not most actors.

In the original film, when his character has to traverse a walk outside of an office window, Reeves did the stunt himself.

This scene involves Mr. Anderson, who is being contacted by Morpheus for the first time. Agents are after him, and his only means of escape is to traverse this huge ledge high above the ground. This was dangerous because he was really 34 stories ❀up above the ground, walking on a small ledge outside this building. Now that's dedication.

21 ꦗ Twin-Sanity

The first film in the franchise was made in a time with little to no special effects availableꩵ. Most of the special effects were, in fact, practical effects, and with the clever direction of the directors 🅰and the way the film was made, fans were none the wiser.

This is especially evident with the woman in red.

In the original film, one of the "training programs" Neo is put through involves the woman in red. A bea🌞utiful woman in red walks down the busy city street as Morpheus talks to Neo, and is meant to show the danger of being distracted. Fans may notice in this scene that around the woman in red are several copies of the same people. Well, this isn't a special effect or computer generated image. No, these are twins hired by the film to make it appear as if the actors were really walking through a computer simulation.