Like many other fans of The Matrix series, I have a lot of issues with The Matrix Resurrections

, but Laurence Fishburne’s recent comments have me even more confused about what went wrong. The movie felt weird. Like simply, just on the face of it, revisiting this spectacular world that had such a conclusive and definitive ending decades earlier seemed like a strange thing to do. But putting that aside, the movie also felt like a big departure from the original.

Don’t get me wrong, seeing Keanu Reeves back as Thomas Anderson, and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity was great, but it was clear that the series had moved on, and this felt like clutching for a spark in a fire that had long been extinguished. The Matrix remains a popular franchise, and it’s left a mark on culture and film, but to reignite that spark, it would have really helped to get the entire team back together, especially individuals like Laurence Fishburne, who played Morpheus in the original trilogy.

Laurence Fishburne Offered To Return For The Matrix 4, But He Was Recast Anyway

Morpheus Was Willing And Ready To Come Back For The Matrix Resurrections

And as it turns out, Laurence Fishburne also reached out to the team working on The Matrix 4, offering his services to be involved in the project, but his offer was shut down. When speaking with interviewers on The View, Lawrence Fishburne was asked if he’d consider returning to play Morpheus for The Matrix 5, which is when he made this shock revelation.

It depends on the circumstances, who is involved, how well the script has been written, if they offer me… because I offered my services to the fourth Matrix, and they didn’t respond well to that. It’s not like I didn’t say, “Oh, I’d like to offer my services.” I did, and for whatever reason, that didn’t happen, OK. That’s the truth. So we’ll see.

Frankly, it’s extremely disappointing that his offer was rebuffed, and, from the sounds of it, not taken very positively whatsoever. But that doesn’t really make any sense. Neo dies at the end of The Matrix Revolutions, and Trinity dies in that same film. However, Morpheus doesn’t die. Neo is the one, and as such, he is seen as a pivotal character who is constantly at the center of each iteration of the Matrix, and the fourth entry suggests that Trinity is part of that same prophecy, but there was no real reason to kill Morpheus and reinvent his character for the sequel.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Is Great, But The Matrix Resurrections Needed Morpheus

It Didn’t Make Sense To Recast An Incredible Actor Like Laurence Fishburne

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II did a solid job of making the Morpheus program feel like a reinvention of Morpheus. He also spliced in some of the personality of Agent Smith, creating an interesting hybrid character that connected with the original film in multiple ways. But, it would have resonated more, and been significantly more effective to simply bring Fishburne back to the role that he played. Perhaps the story was already written up, and the vision of a Morpheus program was set in stone, but it felt like a departure from the original films.

And with Fishburne being so willing and ready to offer up his services, the reunion between him, Reeves, and Moss would have been legendary. Add into the mix Hugo Weaving to reprise his role as Agent Smith, and it would have been a real treat of a sequel, but as it stands, it was sloppy, messy, and a weird ending for Morpheus to turn into some disembodied program.

Morpheus’ Ultimate Fate In The Matrix Resurrections Was Really Disappointing

It Kind Of Ruined Morpheus’ Legacy

In fact, the reality that is revealed in The Matrix Ressurections, that things got better for a little while, and then Neo’s ultimate sacrifice amounted to essentially nothing, is a mockery of the earlier trilogy. And Morpheus, the real living Morpheus, only lived to see his dream be partially realized before being utterly destroyed. He hoped for peace for mankind, and freedom from the machines, but as it turns out, Morpheus’ faith was misplaced, and in relying on the ability to save humanity that he saw in Neo, he ignored further prophecies and warnings that peace was going to be broken.

Morpheus died, clinging to an unfulfilled promise. His entire life had been spent searching for the One, and upon finding him, he set Neo up to succeed and win. And when he finally won, Morpheus believed in that reality, and the hope of a brighter future. But instead, his future was terminated, his people were pillaged, and his memories were taken to create a program that blended his goodness with the monster that is Agent Smith. Laurence Fishburne should have been brought back, but then again, The Matrix Ressurections should never have gotten made into the movie that it became.