Matrix Resurrections star confirms he IS playing a new version of Morpheus

After the debut of the new trailer for The Matrix: Resurrections there were several questions that remained unanswered.

One of the big ones was if the character played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was, as he certainly appeared, actually a younger version of Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus as seen in the previous movies and, simply put, it seems that yes, he is.

The star confirmed the role in a post on Instagram (below) and which he simply wrote: “Morpheus”.

There was a long of speculation that Abdul-Mateen II was playing a younger Morpheus ever since Fishburne confirmed a while back that he, unlike Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss would not be reprising his role… in fact, he wasn’t even asked about returning, saying: “I am not in the next Matrix movie, and you’d have to ask Lana Wachowski why, because I don’t have an answer for that.”

This shocked many fans and we really hope that the movie explain why this is the case because, while we love Abdul-Mateen II, we have been fans of Fishburne’s Morpheus ever since the original movie hit in 1999.
As a little side note – it’s worth noting that in the trailer (here) we get a very brief glimpse of this younger Morheus seemingly being constructed within a machine… making us wonder if this is actually Morpheus at all or rather a contruct meant to fool or entrap the heroes. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

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A post shared by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (@yahya)

The Matrix: Resurrections will debut in theaters and HBO Max on December 22.

From visionary filmmaker Lana Wachowski comes “The Matrix Resurrections,” the long-awaited fourth film in the groundbreaking franchise that redefined a genre. The new film reunites original stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss in the iconic roles they made famous, Neo and Trinity.

The film also stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (the “Aquaman” franchise) Jessica Henwick (TV’s “Iron Fist,” “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens”), Jonathan Groff (“Hamilton,” TV’s “Mindhunter”), Neil Patrick Harris (“Gone Girl”), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (TV’s “Quantico,”), Christina Ricci (TV’s “Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story,” “The Lizzie Borden Chronicles”), Telma Hopkins (TV’s “Dead to Me,”), Eréndira Ibarra (series “Sense8,” “Ingobernable”), Toby Onwumere (TV’s “Empire”), Max Riemelt (series “Sense8”), Brian J. Smith (series “Sense8,” “Treadstone”), and Jada Pinkett Smith (“Angel Has Fallen,” TV’s “Gotham”).

Lana Wachowski directed from a screenplay by Wachowski & David Mitchell & Aleksander Hemon, based on characters created by The Wachowskis. The film was produced by Grant Hill, James McTeigue and Lana Wachowski. The executive producers were Garrett Grant, Terry Needham, Michael Salven, Jesse Ehrman and Bruce Berman.

Wachowski’s creative team behind the scenes included “Sense8” collaborators: directors of photography Daniele Massaccesi and John Toll, production designers Hugh Bateup and Peter Walpole, editor Joseph Jett Sally, costume designer Lindsay Pugh, visual effects supervisor Dan Glass, and composers Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer.

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, In Association with Village Roadshow Pictures, In Association with Venus Castina Productions, “The Matrix Resurrections.” The film will be distributed by worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures. It will be in theaters nationwide and on HBO Max via the Ad-Free plan on December 22, 2021; it will be available on HBO Max for 31 days from theatrical release.