Posted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: cypher, film, Joe Pantoliano, The Matrix, Warner Bros

The Matrix Actor Defends His Character's Duplicity in the First Film

The Matrix actor Joe Pantoliano is fully prepared to defend his character Cypher's choice in the influential action sci-fi film.

The Matrix franchise has become a cinematic staple in pop culture since the initial release of the original 1999 film helmed by the Wachowskis, with plenty of game-changing action, characters, and incomprehensible scenarios to throw at audiences.

Though the franchise is also known to initiate an occasional curveball, which in the first film, resulted in one character turning his back on comrades to save his own life, now, the actor of said character is prepared to explain why that's a potentially reasonable choice for someone in the vastly challenging existence within The Matrix.

Defending Cypher's Betrayal in The Matrix

In a recent conversation with AV Club about his character's treacherous choice in The Matrix, actor Joe Pantoliano defended the decision to shift loyalties by explaining, "Cypher chose to take the red pill just like everybody else in the story. But Cypher, unlike the other characters, he was the most human because he had doubt where they didn't. They followed their leader blindly. And then he's given an opportunity to go back; he was giving up. He didn't think that Neo was the guy."

The Matrix actor then goes on to also add, "He was betting that he was the next One because he had gone through six Ones; they all were killed, right? And so then he gets an opportunity by the Machine, by the 'Corporations' that he could go back and choose to be whoever he wants to be and not have a memory of murdering the people he loved. So who wouldn't take that deal? He bet on the wrong horse."

Now that it's been a few decades since the release of the first entry (in what would eventually become a massive franchise), what are your thoughts on Cypher's choice to change allegiances in The Matrix? Is there a solid argument here?

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