Former Doctor Who star Freema Agyeman makes a cameo appearance in much-hyped blockbuster The Matrix Resurrections, which revives the long-dormant sci-fi franchise for a new generation of viewers.
The actor first rose to fame as the Tenth Doctor’s second companion Martha Jones, who was a regular on the third revived series and made several subsequent guest appearances.
Agyeman first crossed paths with Resurrections director Lana Wachowski on her short-lived Netflix original series Sense8, which followed a small group of people mysteriously linked by a psychic bond.
The show was controversially cancelled after just two seasons, but clearly Wachowski and Agyeman have kept in touch, as she takes a small role in this belated sequel that also stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Her character, named Astra, appears in a sequence that takes place at the video game company Thomas Anderson (Reeves) now finds himself working for.
She is one of the members of his development team roped into a farcical brainstorming session aiming to generate ideas for a sequel to their biggest title, all of which end up being playful meta references to the real Matrix films.
Among the contributions are an emphasis on the need to find “a new bullet-time” and “revolutionise gaming again”, which acknowledges the difficulty of bringing back a franchise as influential and iconic as The Matrix.
Indeed, Mr Anderson’s dev team also warns against letting this become another “retread” filled with “mindless action” – find out whether they succeeded in our The Matrix Resurrections review.
Though Agyeman’s appearance here is only brief, we can’t rule out the possibility she could return in future entries, particularly if outside forces manage to open her eyes to the illusion she has been living in.
Agyeman isn’t the only Sense8 alum to be featured in Resurrections, as her former co-stars Eréndira Ibarra, Max Riemelt, Brian J Smith and Toby Onwumere are also awarded small roles.
Resurrections also sees a reunion behind the camera, as Lana shares scripting duties with Sense8 co-writers David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon, in lieu of sister Lilly who decided not to be involved with this latest feature.
The Matrix Resurrections is out now in UK cinemas. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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