After the release of the trailer for The Matrix Resurrections, many long-time fans of the franchise have pondered what role Yahya Abdul-Mateen II would be playing, given his eerily similar appearance to Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus. Fans can now rest easy (or not, depending on your perspective), as the Candyman star has confirmed on Instagram that he is, in fact, taking over the role of Morpheus for the franchise’s fourth installment.
Mateen posted a still of himself in costume to his Instagram, toting a pair of guns and staring straight into the camera in all of his suited, bespectacled glory. Captioned simply with “MORPHEUS,” there is no denying his point, that he will be playing the enigmatic captain of the Nebuchadnezzar who freed Keanu Reeves’s Neo from the confines of the Matrix. And we can’t lie — he looks good doing it.
Mateen joins a number of newcomers to the Matrix franchise, including Jessica Henwick, Christina Ricci, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, as well as a handful of returning cast members, including Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity. But what does this mean for the universe of The Matrix, this younger version of Morpheus? What has happened in the (albeit confusing) timeline of the franchise that this version of the rebellious leader has appeared to Neo, as opposed to the original? And what does this mean for Neo and the journey he will take? Only time — and a couple of red pills, perhaps — will tell.
The Matrix Resurrection was greenlit in 2019, to be directed by Lana Wachowski, who co-wrote the screenplay with David Mitchell and Aleksander Hemon. The fourth installment looks to be a direct continuation of the franchise, after the Matrix itself was reset in The Matrix Revolutions, but considering Wachowski’s success working with Mitchell and Hemon on Sense8 for Netflix, fans can look forward to something that will wrap up the franchise with a much nicer bow than in 2003.
The Matrix Resurrections will be released in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22. Check out Mateen’s post below: