Why isn't Morpheus actor Laurence Fishburne in the Matrix Resurrections trailer? He says he wasn't 'invited.'

There is no spoon, and in the trailer for The Matrix Resurrections, there is no Laurence Fishburne.

Warner Bros. on Thursday dropped the highly-anticipated trailer for the fourth Matrix film, which sees Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss returning to the iconic sci-fi franchise. But one actor's absence was felt by fans: Fishburne, who played Morpheus in the original trilogy. The trailer instead seems to suggest Yahya Abdul-Mateen II may be playing a young Morpheus.

So is Fishburne really not in the film? According to the actor, he won't be appearing, as he said last year he had "not been invited." As for why, he told Collider in June that's a question for the director.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"I am not in the next Matrix movie, and you'd have to ask [director] Lana Wachowski why, because I don't have an answer for that," he said.

The trailer received positive reactions on Thursday, though some expressed disappointment over Fishburne's absence. Others pointed out that Morpheus was technically killed off in the video game The Matrix Online, so the movie could be following that canon. Despite what Fishburne has said, though, perhaps the possibility of him having a top secret cameo shouldn't be fully ruled out just yet. The film is set to debut in December.

YouTube

Watch On