Laurence Fishburne wanted to return as Morpheus in The Matrix: Resurrections but the team "didn't respond well"

The Matrix star Laurence Fishburne has broken his silence on his no-show as Morpheus in 2021's Resurrections.

Speaking on The View (H/T The Hollywood Reporter), Fishburne said, "I offered my services to the fourth Matrix, and they didn’t respond well to that."

He added, "It’s not like I didn’t say, 'I'd like to offer my services.' I did."

Despite several legacy actors – including Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss – returning to The Matrix franchise for the fourth movie, the role of Morpheus ultimately shifted over to a new actor, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, in a slightly different version of the character.

That experience hasn't soured Fishburne entirely on The Matrix, however. A fifth film, from The Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard, is currently in the works and is touted as an "incredible way to continue the Matrix world" and "a unique perspective based on his own love of the series and characters." For his part, Fishburne isn't ruling out a return.

"It depends on who was involved, how well the script has been written," Fishburne said.

Hugo Weaving, who played Agent Smith in the first three Matrix films, also didn't make a comeback in Resurrections – though that was down to a scheduling conflict.

"I was in touch with [director] Lana Wachowski, but in the end she decided that the dates weren’t going to work. So we'd sorted the dates and then she sort of changed her mind," Weaving told Time Out back in 2020.

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