The Cast of The Matrix Panel from NYCC 2025
New York Comic Con 2025 Day Four Write Up on the Cast of Warner Bros.‘s The Matrix.
Laurence Fishburne and Joe Pantoliano of The Matrix reunited on stage for the last panel of Comic Con 2025. Warner Bros.’ 1999 science fiction extravaganza, The Matrix, was a box-office sensation some 26 years ago. Though Keanu Reeves wasn’t present on the stage, moderator Josh Horowitz interviewed the two actors who played Morpheus and Cypher, Fishburne and Pantoliano, respectively. Fishburne brought his energy to the stage in a big way and the first introductory scene of his character in the 1999 film was shown on the screen to the audience, most of whom fondly remember how well Fishburne played his mysterious character in the picture.
There was talk about the famous “steak” eating scene in the picture which piqued audience’s curiosity, but almost all of the talk surrounded how the Wachowski directors brought such a remarkable vision to the movies back in the late 1990’s. The Matrix won four technical Academy Awards which was a remarkable feat for a movie that didn’t earn a Best Picture Oscar nomination. Of course, the discussion did not ignore other fellow cast members such as Hugo Weaving and Carrie-Anne Moss. Nothing but love was given to Keanu Reeves who was, of course, featured in scenes shown from the 1999 movie.
This panel reflected back on the earlier 1996 Wachowski picture, Bound, which set the stage for the fancy footwork of The Matrix in terms of the way the directors embraced their directorial style and terrific precision which made The Matrix such a global phenomenon. Pantoliano was also in Bound, which used techniques of film noir to tell a wild roller coaster ride of a story. Pantoliano fondly recalled being featured in the stylish masterpiece from the Wachowskis which was released in 1996, three years before The Matrix.
Fishburne talked about the one big superhero movie role he may be interested in playing in the future- Professor X in the X-Men series. Moderator Horowitz approved of the possibility of Fishburne portraying the role made famous by Patrick Stewart. As for returning to The Matrix, it would all depend on the strength of the potential script for the hypothetical movie. As we all know, Fishburne sat out the last 2021 reboot entry in the Matrix series. That film underwhelmed at the box office despite its lofty ambitions.
At the beginning of the Comic Con panel, Fishburne spoke of how a fan brought a new Man of Steel poster to the convention which Fishburne had never seen before. Fishburne jokingly talked about stealing it if he wasn’t so successful because the artwork was so unique when compared to other posters of the popular superhero movie.
Pantoliano is now 74-years old, but he is open to still working as an actor. He has always been a character actor with a lot of personality and that fact helped bring his “A” game to Comic Con as he made a one-liner or two that kept the proceedings moving briskly. Pantoliano and Fishburne reminisced on a few conversations on the conception of the 1999 picture which was sometimes plagued by minor issues of not having read the entire script.
It was made clear that Fishburne is open to working on, perhaps, a potential project by a new hypothetical “weird” filmmaker. When he took the risk of playing Morpheus in the 1999 movie, it was a role that was among the top ones of his career, if not his most successful performance to date. Fishburne yearns for the excitement of making such an ambitious and unique film as The Matrix, of course, was. That search for the next big thing seems to fascinate Fishburne.
The Cast of the Matrix panel was the last one at Comic Con 2025 and inspired applause for these two veteran actors who are clearly not even close to calling it quits. If anything, their appearance at Comic Con should make them start getting phone calls for future projects being that both stars seem open to playing in ambitious movies like The Matrix again.
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