Joe Pantoliano has revealed that the Wachowskis lied to him about the death of his character in The Matrix, and says he still believes that Cypher could return.
Joe Pantoliano became friends with the Wachowskis when he starred in their fantastic first film Bound.
That relationship paved the way for the Goonies star to play Cypher in The Matrix, a member of the resistance who ultimately betrays his fellow freedom-fighters.
Cypher kills several of his comrades, only for Tank to shoot him dead, something he tried to change during production.
The Wachowskis lied about Cypher’s death in The Matrix
While appearing on a panel at New York Comic-Con, Pantoliano revealed that he talked The Fugitive director Andrew Davis out of killing him off in that movie, which meant he could appear in eventual sequel US Marshalls.
The actor then tried the same trick during a phone-call with Lily Wachowski.
“I said, ‘Hey, you can’t kill me, right? You’re not gonna kill me?'” Pantoliano told the crowd, as per Entertainment Weekly. “And Lilly said, ‘Hey, Lana, he doesn’t want us to kill him.’ And I heard Lana off camera, knowing that I could hear this, and she said, ‘Well, just lie to him and we’ll kill him anyway.'”
The panel’s host then reminded Pantoliano that the audience never actually sees Cypher’s dead body. While to add fuel to that fire, he’s apparently taken out by the same lightning rifle that didn’t initially kill Tank.
“Don’t get me started, all right?” joked the actor regarding his character’s potential return. “They brought f*cking Agent Smith back. It’s The Matrix!”
Drew Goddard is currently developing The Matrix 5, and Pantoliano said of his revival or resurrection: “It’s not too late. It’s never too late.”