Hugo Weaving revealed a while back that he was approached about reprising the role of Smith in The Matrix Resurrections, and with the movie now out there for all the world to see, anyone that’s plugged themselves back in will know that would’ve created an entirely new and even more self-aware dynamic to drive the first act.
Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts wound up getting the way to pour cold water on that particular notion, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that perhaps Laurence Fishburne found himself in the same boat. Then again, the O.G. Morpheus admitted the reason he wasn’t part of Resurrections was because nobody asked him, and it turns out that a new bearer of tiny sunglasses was always on the cards.
In an interview with Gizmodo, co-writer Aleksandar Hemon confirmed that “a new Morpheus was there from the beginning”. Within the context of Resurrections, it arguably makes a lot more sense for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II to bear a passing resemblance to Fishburne and put his own spin on the character, rather than bringing the legacy player back.
The Matrix Resurrections is often convoluted and even confusing at several points, but it’s never anything less than intriguing. Much like everything else in the movie, the merits of Morpheus V2.0 are being hotly debated, but it sounds as though Fishburne was never even considered for a return to the fold.
