Posted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: Carrie-Anne Moss, hugo weaving, keanu reeves, The Matrix, The Matrix Resurrections

The Matrix Resurrection Stars Talk Fishburne & Weaving's Absence

Published Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:17:10 -0600

by Tom Chang

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No matter how it's presented, the absences of The Matrix franchise stars in Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus and Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith in Warner Bros. fourth installment in Resurrections was definitely felt. While Weaving had a scheduling conflict, Fishburne simply wasn't asked to return. Returning stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, who play Neo and Trinity respectively, spoke with Unilad about shooting the film without Fishburne and Weaving.

The Matrix Resurrection Stars Talk Fishburne & Weaving's Absence — Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving in The Matrix (1999). Image courtesy of Warner Bros

Both Fishburne and Weaving appear only via archive footage from the original trilogy, while the plot explains why the new Morpheus now takes the form of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Agent Smith is Jonathan Groff. "Yeah, certainly. Speaking with [director] Lana [Wachowski] about that… it was just creatively where she wanted to go with the production and the story. Yeah, we love Hugo and Lawrence, and we thought about them all the time," Reeves said. "It's hard not to think about them because they're so much a part of it. I love both of them, and they're both so talented and such great people. But, there's an evolution that happened for Lana with the story, and we're here serving that, you know?" Moss added.

Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus in The Matrix (1999). Image courtesy of Warner Bros

When asked by Entertainment Tonight, Fishburne said, "I have not been asked to join them, which is fine. I am hopeful that it will be wonderful and it will satisfy audiences and that people will love it." Weaving talked about what was discussed to Time Out London. "I thought [I] could do both, and it took eight weeks to work out that the dates would work… I was in touch with Lana Wachowski, but in the end, she decided that the dates weren't going to work… they're pushing on ahead without me." The Matrix Resurrections, which also stars Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, and Lambert Wilson, is currently available in theaters and on HBO Max.