Laurence Fishburne Becomes Morpheus Again For Kia Super Bowl Spot
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Laurence Fishburne has played a lot of different roles over the years, but the role that they’ll probably carve into his tombstone is that of Morpheus, Neo’s mentor in the Wachowskis’ Matrix films. It’s the voice, man. Dude does good enigmatic. Now, over a decade after he last donned the shades of Morpheus, Fishburne is back in the role that made him a sci-fi icon…well, sort of. Morpheus has been resurrected by the one force more powerful than The One — advertising.
The TV spot above is due to air during the Super Bowl this Sunday, but apparently Kia decided to show it to us early. I’m never sure how that makes any sense when companies do this. If you’re spending a zillion dollars for 90 seconds of the most coveted advertising real estate around, why spoil the surprise and put it up online early? Not that I’m complaining, but it seems counterproductive to me.
The whole commercial is obviously a riff on The Matrix’s infamous “red pill/blue pill” scene, but there are several other Easter eggs in there as well, including a bending spoon and a pair of Agents having their dinner interrupted. Here’s the original scene from the movie.
The would already be memorable just for the concept and the fan service, but it takes an unexpected turn about halfway through that actually made me laugh. That’s a nice touch, because it could easily have stayed as straightforward as it starts out and people would still be talking about it Monday morning.
This isn’t the first time the Matrix films have been raided for commercial purposes. In the past the Agents have shilled for both GE…
…and Powerade.
Super Bowl XLVIII will air this Sunday, February 2, at 6:30 pm ET on Fox. Tune in and see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
