Laurence Fishburne’s role as Morpheus in The Matrix is one of the most iconic roles of all-time. But everything has to be just right for Fishburne to revisit the role in a sequel.
“It depends on how good it is, really,” Fishburne said during the“The Matrix” reunion at New York Comic Con 2025. “If it’s great, then yeah, if it makes sense. I don’t know if it makes sense.”
Fishburne also shared that he had reached out to the Wachowski sisters about starring in “The Matrix Resurrections.” But he wasn’t invited to return for the sequel.
I reached out,” revealed Fishburne. “It just didn’t pan out. I said ‘Thank you very much,’ And Lana [Wachowski] said, ‘Thank you very much, I’ll think about it,’ and that was that.”
Fishburne said that the success of The Matrix franchise has influenced a generation of films in the genre.
“There’s no movie that comes after ‘The Matrix’ that’s a sci-fi action or fantasy movie that’s not been influenced by it,” said Fishburne. “It’s everywhere. It’s so pervasive you almost forget where it came from at this point. Now, people don’t realize, but no ‘The Matrix,’ no MCU. It [just] doesn’t look the same.”
Fishburne’s comments come after the news that Drew Goddard will write and direct a new Matrix film for Warner Bros. It will be the franchise’s first installment not led by the Lana or Lily Wachowski as directors.
“Drew came to Warner Bros. with a new idea that we all believe would be an incredible way to continue the Matrix world, by both honoring what Lana and Lilly began over 25 years ago. And offering a unique perspective based on his own love of the series and characters,” Warner Bros. Motion Pictures president of production JesseEhrman said in a statement.
Fishburne remains hesitant although co-stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are slated to be a part of the project.
Instead of Fishburne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II played a new version of Morpheus in 2021’s Resurrections, stunning hardcore fans of the series.
Fishburne starred in The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), and The Matrix Revolutions (2003).