Cyborg actor Ray Fisher has opened up regarding the alleged demands made by Geoff Johns and Warner Bros. executives during reshoots of Justice League.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the major disagreements between the portrayal of Cyborg by Fisher, director Joss Whedon and Warner Bros. executives Geoff Johns, Jon Berg and Toby Emmerich was centered on having "an angry Black man" as the center of the Justice League movie.
Fisher told THR that Johns found it problematic that Cyborg is only shown smiling once in the film. That's when Fisher reportedly learned from a witness in the Justice League investigation that WB didn't want an angry Cyborg portrayed in the film. A representative for Johns said after it was decided that Justice League would have a lighter tone, discussions moved to "adding joy and hopefulness to all six superheroes. There are always conversations about avoiding any stereotype of race, gender or sexuality."
It was then that conversations reportedly moved to Fisher playing Cyborg less like Frankenstein and more like Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Fisher claims Johns demonstrated by dipping his shoulder in what's described as a servile posture. "I didn't have any intention of playing him as a jovial, cathedral-cleaning individual," Fisher said.
"Geoff gave a note using a fictional character as an example of a sympathetic man who is unhappy and has an inclination to hide from the world, but one whom the audience roots for because he has a courageous heart," Johns' representative responded in a statement.
"It was like he was assuming how Black people would respond rather than taking the advice from the only Black person -- as far as I know -- with any kind of creative impact on the project," Fisher added.
However, Fisher claimed that Johns did not relent on Cyborg's change in demeanor. "That was the last creative conversation about anything that Geoff Johns and I had. I knew I was on my own," Fisher said, with Johns' rep denying any dismissal of comments. Johns' background as Lebanese American was also brought up, along with his history of championing diverse superheroes at DC. Examples were given of when Johns "had evolved traditionally all-white DC properties like Shazam, Justice Society of America and others into diverse groups of heroes" while writing the characters during his fan-favorite runs.
Zack Snyder's Justice League stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ray Porter as Darkseid, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. The film is now streaming on HBO Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter