Laurence Fishburne Is Fine With Missing Out On Matrix Resurrection

The Matrix Resurrections picked up the story of Neo and Trinity and the rebellion against the machines, with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss stepping back into the roles they created over 20 years ago. However, one key role was notably recast with Lawrence Fishburne not returning as Morpheus, Neo's guide and rebel leader.

In the story, Morpheus is long dead during the events of Resurrections, but an AI based on the fallen character, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, allowed him to return in an unexpected way. During a press event for the upcoming Netflix series The School for Good and Evil, the Oscar-nominated actor said he was okay at passing up the chance to reprise Morpheus.

"No, not really," the actor said while talking to Variety when being asked if he felt like he missed out. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. I thought Carrie-Anne and Keanu really did their thing. Yeah, that's what I thought."

Fishburne initially took the role of Morpheus after Sean Connery reportedly turned it down. The first Matrix movie hit theaters in 1999 and became a mega sleeper hit, and essentially reconstructed the action movie genre. The film invented the "bullet time" camera, which quickly saturated and became a staple for movies for years to come.

Fishburne wasn't the only person not to reprise their original role. Hugo Weaving was replaced by Jonathan Groff as the malevolent Agent Smith in Resurrections, and also played a role once again in the main story.