LOS ANGELES, Oct 17 — Expect to see Jessica Henwick of Game of Thrones and Marvel’s The Defenders take a leading role in The Matrix 4, should things go well as director Lana Wachowski builds up a cast.

After playing noblewoman Nymeria Sand in Game of Thrones and martial arts teacher Colleen Wing in Marvel’s Netflix series Iron Fist, The Defenders and Luke Cage, Jessica Henwick appears close to joining The Matrix 4.

Deadline reports that director and co-writer Lana Wachowski is casting "a female-like Neo character” as one of the 2022 film’s principal characters, with Henwick a frontrunner, having performed "quite strongly” during auditions.

Not that there’s any shortage of work for Henwick right now, having landed parts in January 2020 aquatic escape Underwater, March’s apocalyptic adventure Monster Problems and clash of titans Godzilla vs Kong, Sofia Coppola’s comedy drama On the Rocks and Netflix’s animated adventure Gods & Heroes.

Previous casting details include Keanu Reeves’s return as Neo, with Carrie-Ann Moss reprising her role as Trinity and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman) joining the ensemble, while Jada Pinkett Smith is said to have been approached over playing Niobe once more.

Neil Patrick Harris was linked with a new Matrix franchise role earlier in the week.

The Matrix franchise began in 1999 and, though the second two films (both 2003) lacked the enthusiastic reception of the first, the franchise garnered US$1.6 billion (RM6.68 billion) at the box office and US$3 billion in total, spawning three video games and a collection of animated shorts commissioned from influential animé directors.

While Lana is returning for The Matrix 4, Lily Wachowski is currently committed to Showtime comedy series Work in Progress. — AFP-Relaxnews