Matrix 4: What happened to Laurence Fishburne and who's the new Morpheus?

The Matrix 4: Morpheus isn't Laurence Fishburne anymore

(Image credit: Warner Bros./Village Roadshow)

The Matrix 4 (The Matrix: Resurrections) arrives nearly 20 years after "The Matrix: Revolutions" hit theaters (going to the movies, what a concept), and fans of the iconic sci-fi action series such as myself are strapped up for a return to the digital (united nations)reality. And we were met with a surprise.

Those who couldn't await for Thursday's "The Matrix: Resurrections" trailer were non disappointed. Certain enough, Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss had reprised their roles as Neo and Trinity. And and then about 70 seconds into the trailer, a graphic symbol who seemingly represented Morpheus appeared, merely it wasn't the Morpheus we remembered.

Oh, and the new Matrix 4 trailer makes information technology look similar we're getting a new Agent Smith also? Weird.

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Laurence Fishburne evidently doesn't know why he's not in The Matrix 4

Fishburne, who played Morpheus in the first three Matrix movies, confirmed earlier this year that he wouldn't be back in this upcoming installment. The actor, when asked well-nigh the questions he got, told Collider "It would make sense that people would ask me that, so information technology doesn't get former. I am not in the adjacent 'Matrix' moving picture, and you'd have to ask Lana Wachowski why, because I don't have an answer for that."

Don't think that the new Morpheus is a younger version, Keanu Reeves told The One Show" that the picture show isn't going to be rewinding things back, stating "No, no. No going in the past."

So we promise that Lana Wachowski some day explains why Fishburne isn't in The Matrix 4.

Who is the new Morpheus?

And then thespian Yahya Abdul-Mateen 2, the man who looks similar Morpheus in the trailer, took to social media to analyze things (at to the lowest degree on his terminate). The beneath Instagram post, a photo of him with two guns criss-crossed, ane firing, is captioned "MORPHEUS ⁣#TheMatrixMovie" to make certain we all know that the role has definitely been passed on.

You may recognize Abdul-Mateen Two from such films as Aquaman and the 2021 version of Candyman. He'south proven his acting and activity chops in those movies. But this still doesn't seem right.

Analysis: What The Matrix four loses without Fishburne

Some online sites accept offered a canonical suggestion equally to why he's missing, but the fact that we're request why when it comes to the Morpheus we know and love is ironic. The first Matrix movie presented usa with a series of existential questions, and essentially is an existential crisis. Who guides us through that crisis? Fishburne. "All I'1000 offer is the truth," he famously says.

The first thing this presumed incarnation of Morpheus said in Th's trailer was, "Time to fly." It seemed promising, especially when we saw Neo choose the red pill over the blue pill in the adjacent frame. But much in the way that this character, played past Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, wore compelling, but casual-fitting attire, he only didn't make full the conform.

Fishburne's Morpheus didn't go Neo'southward peer until much afterwards in the initial series. He spent much more of that time being a guide and a sage. When I think of Morpheus and flying, I retrieve near the role that the Nebuchadnezzar hovercraft played in not but Neo'southward liberation, only the liberation of Zion. I retrieve near Morpheus' faith in Neo, and how it never wavered, even when Neo expressed doubt in their first action-packed office sequence, nor did Morpheus filibuster to save "The One" when they were ambushed in Naught's trap.

The about 3-infinitesimal trailer also revisited the sparring session betwixt (the new) Morpheus and Neo, and while the back-and-along might accept suggested that Neo equally we knew him may exist a little different, the clips of the "fight" that we saw were unquestionably 1-sided. I'll just say information technology similar this – the Morpheus I know wouldn't have allowed Neo to pull a "super movement" on him that thrashed the whole dojo. And this Morpheus doesn't audio like the sage nosotros knew.

While we were all figuring out what the hell was going on in the first film, information technology was Fishburne giving the states (and Neo) perspective, maxim:

The Matrix is a organisation, Neo. That organization is our enemy. Only when you're inside, you look effectually, what do you lot come across? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we practice, these people are nonetheless a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are non fix to exist unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the arrangement, that they will fight to protect it.

Even with Fishburne absent, that quote withal rings in our ears when we spotter The Matrix iv's trailer when we see a grouping of people in an elevator, with everyone except Neo (and the overlords higher up) were enamored and entrapped in their phones. And I recall that will be my solace as the series transitions without Fishburne. Even though he'due south not in the movie, the ideology and wisdom that Fishburne gave vocalism to will continue to suffer. We simply hope that this Morpheus is even so the wise homo the original was.

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Ken J. Makin is a tech and entertainment writer for Tom's Guide, and has near 20 years of experience as a announcer. He's an gorging podcaster and freelancer for various sites, including ESPN'due south The Undefeated and The Christian Science Monitor. When he'southward not podding or writing, Ken is likely spending time with his married woman and children.