Laurence Fishburne on if He Would Return as Morpheus in ‘Matrix 5’: ‘I Don’t Know if it Makes Sense’

With last year’s news about “The Martian” screenwriter Drew Goddard taking the helm from Lana and Lily Wachowski for a new “Matrix” film, Laurence Fishburne expressed his hesitancy in reprising his role as Morpheus in a future iteration of the sci-fi franchise.

“It depends on how good it is, really,” Fishburne said on stage at “The Matrix” reunion at New York Comic Con 2025. “If it’s great, then yeah, if it makes sense. I don’t know if it makes sense.”

Fishburne added that he had reached out to the Wachowski sisters about starring in “The Matrix Resurrections,” but was ultimately not invited to return for the sequel.

“I reached out,” revealed Fishburne. “It just didn’t pan out. I said ‘Thank you very much,’ And Lana [Wachowski] said, ‘Thank you very much, I’ll think about it,’ and that was that.”

During “The Matrix” panel, moderated by ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast host Josh Horowitz, Fishburne and Joe Pantoliano reflected on the success of the film, how they were cast and the cultural impact of Morpheus and Cypher two decades later. After being asked about how “The Matrix” has influenced new generations of filmmakers, Fishburne explained the importance of the film throughout multiple storytelling genres. 

“There’s no movie that comes after ‘The Matrix’ that’s a sci-fi action or fantasy movie that’s not been influenced by it,” said Fishburne. “It’s everywhere. It’s so pervasive you almost forget where it came from at this point. Now, people don’t realize, but no ‘The Matrix,’ no MCU. It [just] doesn’t look the same.”