From the beginning, The Matrix Resurrections was meant to bring back Neo and Trinity but introduce a new Morpheus.
Matrix 4 co-writer Aleksandar Hemon spoke to Gizmodo about the controversial decision to not bring Laurence Fishburne back for the sequel and instead introduce a younger version of his character. Despite the returns of Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves, Fishburne was reportedly not asked to return. Instead, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays an updated take on the character. But according to Hemon, that was always the plan.
"A new Morpheus was there from the beginning," Hemon said of the decision. "We knew that Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss would be involved. Without them, this thing would not have been possible. But the other thing, during my brief career in the movies, I've learned that moviemaking, it's a world of contingency. And so people might or might not, you know, sign on—or if they sign on, some things may change. So we did write some roles, I'm not going to give it away, but we wrote a character for someone we thought would play [it] and then it was not possible. And so still, we didn't change anything radically, but we were just imagining this actor in the role. And then it turned out that it was not possible, but we didn't change any lines with that. So that actor is still inscribed in the role."
Hemon doesn't go into further detail about the actor who could have potentially played the role, but it's possible that Michael B. Jordan is being referenced. When word first emerged in 2019 that Lana Wachowski was working on a Matrix sequel with Reeves and Moss, numerous rumors cropped up that a younger Morpheus would factor into the plot. Yet more rumors pegged Jordan as the actor that would bring this new take on the character to life. But for reasons unknown, that never manifested and Abdul-Mateen II was instead given the role.
What is clear, however, is that the Morpheus seen in Matrix 4 was always what Wachowski had in mind. And that's not a huge shock, considering the canon game The Matrix Online saw Morpheus perish. Then again, the new film brought Neo and Trinity back to life, so it wouldn't have been impossible to do the same for Fishburne's character. But in the end, it seems the plan was always to take things in a new direction.
The Matrix Resurrections is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Gizmodo