Laurence Fishburne's absence from "The Matrix: Resurrections" was one of the film's biggest talking points. The movie, which came out in 2021, served as the series' reintroduction to the sci-fi world of The Matrix, providing fans with a continuation of a story that concluded in 2003. In a new interview, Fishburne has finally revealed the reason why he wasn't involved in the project.
Fishburne was featured on "The View" earlier this month, where he talked about what happened with "The Matrix: Resurrections." He revealed that he wanted to be involved in the film, and reached out to the movie's creative team.
“I offered my services to the fourth Matrix, and they didn’t respond well to that,” he said. “It’s not like I didn’t say, ‘I’d like to offer my services.’ I did.”
Now that a fifth film is in development, directed and written by Drew Goddard and executive produced by one-half of the original filmmaking duo Lana Wachowski, the show's hosts asked Fishburn if he was interested in rejoining.
He said that it all depended on the quality of the film and who else was involved in the movie's making.
What Fishburn thought of 'The Matrix: Resurrections'
"The Matrix: Resurrections" was a controversial film upon its release, with many viewers finding things to love and hate about the project. The role of Morpheus, played by Fishburn in the original trilogy, was recast as a younger version of the role played by Yahya Abdul Mateen II.
The decision to not include Fishburne was judged at the time, especially since the series brought back Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, who led the original films.
"It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be," said Fishburne in 2021, in an interview with Variety. "And it wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be. But I thought Carrie-Anne and Keanu really did their thing. Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
When asked if he thought he'd missed out, Fishburne said, “No, not really."