Why does Smith have a new body in this film? Did Hugo Weaving not want to come back? Also why does he call Neo “Tom” instead of “Mr. Anderson”?
shareWhy is Smith in this movie at all? Wasn't he purged along with the other exile programs when the new Matrix was created?
Makes no sense for him to be there all.
As for the first reason, I imagine Weaving either felt too old for this kind of film, or more likely, he wasn't invited back simply because Lana Wachowski wanted mostly younger faces for the new installment(s?)... I mean, can you imagine The Architect and Smith reprising their roles? Hugo Weaving is 61, and Helmut Bakaitis is 77. Even as a sit-down role, The Architect probably wasn't into a potential 3-movie commitment. Weaving MIGHT have been able to pull it off at his age... But I suspect he probably had moved beyond the series, from a career perspective.
Regardless, assuming this movie spawns a new trilogy, Weaving would be pushing 70 by the time it finished, and Bakaitis would be in his mid 80s. Not only would the movie be physically harder on them than the rest of the cast, but they'd represent a much older demographic that this series just never appealed to.
As for Neo being called "Tom" instead of "Mr. Anderson..." Again I submit that with Jonathan Groff being a younger Agent Smith, with the idea within the Machine City being that he'd be more easily seen as a "peer" with Neo, rather than a ruthless boss-like character, And with Neil Patrick Harris playing a different, but essentially equal role with The Architect called "The Analyst," as someone who can be intimately close to Neo (thus able to keep better tabs on him and influence his behavior more so than The Architect could), these younger characters undoubtedly were meant to mask their roles and allow them closer access to Neo than their predecessors.
Know what I mean?
The original Agent Smith left a bad taste in the machines mouth, becoming a virus and all, so they had to rewrite the Smith program which resulted in a new look and personality. But, the real answer is that Elrond couldn't make his schedule work for the film and the writers decided they had to have the last trilogy's main villain so a recast it was.
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