'I don't know if it makes sense': Laurence Fishburne uncertain about The Matrix return

Laurence Fishburne is unsure if he will return for The Matrix 5.

The 64-year-old actor played Morpheus in the first three movies of the franchise but doesn't know "if it makes sense" to return for the fifth installment after his absence from the 2021 film The Matrix Resurrections.

Speaking at The Matrix reunion at New York Comic Con, Laurence said: "It depends on how good it is, really.

"If it's great, then yeah, it makes sense. I don't know if it makes sense."

Fishburne recalled how he had contacted director Lana Wachowski about featuring in The Matrix Resurrections but didn't hear anything back.

The John Wick star said: "I reached out. It just didn't pan out. I said, 'Thank you very much', and Lana said, 'Thank you very much, I'll think about it', and that was that."

The original Matrix movie – which also starred Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss – was a big hit both critically and commercially when it was released in 1999 and Laurence feels that it has influenced all of the subsequent sci-fi and fantasy films.

He said: "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.

"It's everywhere. It's so pervasive you almost forget where it came from at this point. Now, people don't realise, but no The Matrix, no Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It (just) doesn't look the same."

Last year, Warner Bros. announced that Drew Goddard will write and direct the fifth Matrix film, marking the first time in the franchise without either Lana or Lilly Wachowski behind the camera – although the former is involved as an executive producer on the flick.

Plot details are yet to be revealed but Warner Bros. Motion Pictures boss Jesse Ehrman has said that the story will progress the fantasy world without straying from what has made the cyberpunk franchise successful.

It is not clear if stars such as Keanu will be returning and Laurence stated earlier this year that reprising his role as Morpheus would "depend on the circumstances".

He told The View: "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."

Meanwhile, Ehrman has promised that the upcoming picture will provide an "incredible" continuation for the franchise.

He said: "Drew came to Warner Bros. with a new idea that we all believe would be an incredible way to continue the Matrix world, by both honouring what Lana and Lilly began over 25 years ago and offering a unique perspective based on his own love of the series and characters.

"The entire team at Warner Bros. Discovery is thrilled for Drew to be making this new Matrix film, adding his vision to the cinematic canon the Wachowskis spent a quarter of a century building here at the studio."