The Matrix Resurrections: 10 Biggest Questions It Leaves Unanswered
8. Why Is Smith Still In The Matrix?
Agent Smith appears in the movie as a supporting antagonist and occasional ally, now played by Jonathan Groff rather than Hugo Weaving.
Given that Smith was categorically destroyed at the end of Revolutions, his presence in this rebooted version of the Matrix really doesn't make much sense at all, and it's never explained.
If a truce between humans and Machines was made to eradicate Smith from the Matrix, how has he materialised in this new iteration? How come he doesn't have his ability to replicate himself anymore? And more to the point, why does he look different?
In reality, the answer is that Lana Wachowski couldn't resist bringing Smith back and so basically shoehorned his presence into the script.
Perhaps Smith couldn't be deleted from the Matrix entirely because of his yin-yang relation to Neo, and so had to remain in a residual form which allowed him to re-materialise?
It's part of the movie's frequent "just roll with it" logic, and given that Wachowski originally hoped Weaving would return to reprise the role, his altered appearance is really down to nothing more than the actor's lack of availability.