The Matrix 4 Theory: Morpheus Returns As The Movie's Villain
The Matrix 4 could surprise Neo, Trinity, and the fans by installing Morpheus as the main villain. While Neo was off saving the world from Agent Smith, Laurence Fishburne's Morpheus held down the original Matrix trilogy with his calming stoicism. And when that ice-cold exterior cracked to reveal Morpheus' burning passion and inner fire, not even the mighty Keanu Reeves could compete with his master's charisma. Morpheus was responsible for bringing Neo into the real world, and insisted against all odds that he was "The One," despite the condemnation of his peers. Morpheus' faith was ultimately proved justified, and he's the last of the main Matrix cast still standing come the end.
Almost two decades after The Matrix Revolutions, the story is set to continue in Lana Wachowski's The Matrix 4. Keanu Reeves is back and Carrie-Anne Moss reprises her role as Trinity alongside a selection of other familiar faces. The Matrix 4 also introduces a host of newcomers including Neil Patrick Harris, Yahya Abdul Mateen, Priyanka Chopra, Jonathan Groff and Jessica Henwick. But while we might know the "who" of The Matrix 4, no one has any idea of the what, why and how. Given The Matrix's rich digital playground, the possibilities are quite literally boundless.
Perhaps the biggest outstanding question ahead of The Matrix 4 is the new villain. It's impossible to discount Agent Smith being rebooted, and a human "bluepill" enemy is a popular theory, but a few clues suggest Morpheus could be installed as The Matrix 4's big bad. From the absence of Laurence Fishburne to Morpheus' original motivations for finding The One, here's why the man who led Neo into the light could bring darkness in The Matrix 4.
In the lineup of returning stars for The Matrix 4, Laurence Fishburne is conspicuous by his absence, especially since his character survived while Neo and Trinity perished in the final battle. Even if The Matrix 4 takes place far into the future, long after Morpheus died, why couldn't Fishburne's most iconic character simply be reborn alongside his two old friends? Clearly, there's a deeper reason as to why Reeves and Moss are back without the third member of their power trio. The Matrix 4 could explain Morpheus' absence with a throwaway line of dialogue ("we only had enough power to bring back two heroes and Trinity has better hair, so...") but the character is much too important for that kind of treatment, and needs to physically appear in one guise or another.
The missing piece of The Matrix 4's Morpheus puzzle may be found in news reports from 2017, several years before a new sequel was officially announced. Back then, rumors claimed Warner Bros. was eyeing Michael B. Jordan to play a younger version of Morpheus in a new Matrix installment, and while those plans obviously never came to fruition, the core "young Morpheus" concept might live on in The Matrix 4, with many picking Yahya Abdul Mateen to inherit Fishburne's famous role. Showing Morpheus during his past would be a fascinating way to continue the character's story in typically Matrix-esque fashion. Although, whether he'll still be a protagonist is another matter...
The obvious villains for The Matrix 4 are the Machines and their Agents, once again trying to enslave humanity like the pesky out-of-control household appliances they are. But this outline would inevitably retread the original Matrix trilogy's plot - the same old man vs. machine narrative dressed in 2021's clothes. A far more interesting story for The Matrix 4 would be introducing a human villain. Maybe a faction of bluepills inspired by Cypher want humanity to be plugged back in, or perhaps an over-zealous Zion leader seeks to destroy the Machines and reestablish human dominance instead of coexisting. The Matrix trilogy thrives on subverting expectations, and flipping the script to make mankind bad guys and Machines the victims feels like a natural progression.
Another way to shake up the Matrix formula would be turning a former hero like Morpheus into Neo and Trinity's new enemy. This way, The Matrix 4 would avoid singing the same old sci-fi song, while opening up a whole new field of philosophical subtext by highlighting a good man's capacity for villainy, and the thin line Morpheus treads between heroically unerring determination and single-minded pursuit at the expense of all else.
Some Matrix fans maintain that Morpheus had bad intentions from the very beginning. Certainly, Laurence Fishburne's character antagonizes his fellow Zionites and risks innocent lives in the name of his own beliefs, but viewers are encouraged to believe Morpheus' renegade means are justified by The Matrix trilogy's happy ending. Nevertheless, a fan theory from KGBkid goes deeper into explaining why Morpheus isn't all he seems.
This intriguing (albeit unlikely) theory is based around The Matrix's etymology. Morpheus is the captain of the Nebuchadnezzar ship, and his mission is to free the people of Zion. In real world history, however, Nebuchadnezzar was a Babylonian king who conquered Jerusalem (otherwise known as Zion) and enslaved its populace - the very opposite of Morpheus in The Matrix. The theory also points out that Morpheus is the God of Dreams in Greek mythology, suggesting his true intention is to lead humanity toward another layer of digital simulation, rather than freedom in the real world.
There's nothing in Morpheus' on-screen words or actions to necessarily support this theory, but names aren't assigned without meaning in The Matrix, and there's an undeniable disconnect between what Morpheus does, and the villainy his name (and the name of his ship) allude to. Even if Morpheus isn't a bad guy in the original Matrix trilogy, the historical connotations tease a potential future turn toward the dark side.
For Morpheus to be the main antagonist of The Matrix 4, the character's return must tick a few vital boxes. Not only does The Matrix 4 need to explain what happened to Morpheus after The Matrix Revolutions, but his new, youthful, non-Laurence Fishburne appearance needs to be accounted for too. The Matrix 4 must then reveal why Morpheus turned bad, whether he was a villain from the beginning, and what the significance of the "Nebuchadnezzar" and "God of Dreams" connections might be.
One storyline that incorporates all of the above is Morpheus becoming a tyrannical ruler in humanity's future. After Neo's sacrifice creates peace between Zion and the Machines at the end of the Matrix trilogy, it stands to reason that Morpheus would ascend to a position of leadership among humans. Who better to lead the freed masses pouring out of the Matrix than the man who liberated and trained The One? Morpheus begins his reign with the best of intentions; he was never a villain in the first three films, and initially proves to be the kind, strong, just ruler fans would expect him to be.
And then it all goes wrong. Despite many Zionites living contently in the real world with Morpheus as their leader, a minority of Cypher-minded rebels would inevitably rise, preaching the virtues of the Matrix and arguing that every human should be plugged back in. Morpheus would be understandably miffed by this. How dare these small-minded sycophants disrespect everything he fought for and Neo gave his life for by wanting the Machines' Matrix. This anger could transform Morpheus' into a more despotic leader, hunting down bluepills and banning positive talk about the Matrix. Morpheus might even re-purpose the Matrix into a prison, turning the digital realm into a nightmare world and plugging in his opponents as a form of "you want the Matrix, you got it" punishment. Naturally, Morpheus would begin to fear that when his time as leader ends, a bluepill supporter might succeed him. Morpheus could get around this problem by harnessing the energy from his plugged-in prisoners and using it to restore his youth. As the people of Zion become more and more fearful, they call upon the only two people Morpheus might listen to: Neo and Trinity. Thus, The Matrix 4 begins.
A story of this sort would turn Morpheus bad without negating his journey in the original Matrix movies. In the words of a certain badly-burned attorney, Morpheus simply "lived long enough to see himself become the villain." By enslaving his followers, the Nebuchadnezzar and God of Dreams names would be explained, and the desperation to cling onto power allows a younger actor (such as Yahya Abdul Mateen) to replace Laurence Fishburne, while also creating an effective reason for Neo and Trinity to be revived.
There's a huge upside to turning Morpheus bad in The Matrix 4. The sequel takes on a completely different tone compared to the original, and a rematch between Neo and a powered-up Morpheus is an attractive selling point for casual and hardcore fans alike. More importantly, the moral questions raised by Morpheus' transformation into a dictator sit firmly within The Matrix's wheelhouse. There's the notion of freewill - should liberated humans have a choice to return to the Matrix, just as Morpheus gave them back in the day? Was Neo fighting for freedom from the simulation, or freedom of choice? And how easily can a man's reckless, maverick tendencies slip into something more sinister?
Neo and Trinity going up against Morpheus in The Matrix 4 would also set up a completely different final showdown compared to Neo vs. Agent Smith. Rather than simply trying to destroy their enemy, Neo and Trinity would seek to redeem Morpheus, bringing him back to the light and rediscovering the friend they knew, rather than the embittered leader Morpheus became after their deaths.