Though the Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes have generally eschewed secret identities, the heroes in the DCEU have yet to do so. In the world of Justice League, Aquaman hangs up his trident and becomes Arthur Curry, Batman takes of his cowl to become Bruce Wayne, and Superman puts on his glasses to become Clark Kent. But unlike the other core members of the League, it seems that Vic Stone does not have the luxury of a double life, and that's what will make him fundamentally different from the others in the upcoming film. Cyborg actor Ray Fisher explained:
With the situation that Victor's gone through, he's lost more than his body. He cannot potentially have the kind of family that a lot of people would want. So there's a much different struggle than the rest of the crew, because they can take their costumes off. They can live a normal life. They can hang up the cowl, they can hang up the capes or the helmets and whatever and just go off and be whoever it is that they want to after that point. But Cyborg doesn't have that luxury. Being able to see that sort of massive setback, yet seeing the guy overcome it, reconnect with humanity, while reconnecting with himself, is powerful. And rebuild the relationship with his father who turned him into Cyborg, which essentially took a bad relationship and made it even worse. It's just an opportunity to watch this person, this superhero, who basically overcomes tremendous trauma and has every right to basically say 'Screw the world!' but doesn't.
Like Barry Allen, Cyborg's abilities are the result of an accident. But unlike The Flash, he doesn't have a suit that he can take off, or powers that he can easily hide from the public eye. Morning, noon, and night, Cyborg IS Cyborg. His core conflict in Justice League, according to Ray Fisher in his comments to Geek Magazine (via Screen Rant), will center on his never-ending struggle retain the human side of himself, and overcome the animosity that he harbors towards his father for turning him into a metallic man in the first place -- a sequence seen during the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
With that in mind, one thing worth watching out for as the DCEU moves forward is how Cyborg evolves as he becomes more and more comfortable with himself. Although this early take on the character seems to have a fairly dark (almost Robocop-esque) mentality to him, some of the most iconic versions of Cyborg ever depicted have maintained far more lighthearted sensibilities -- "Boo-ya!" comes to mind. Turning into a cybernetic being is no laughing matter, but Vic could eventually start to smile more as he grows into his new life.
We will watch Cyborg struggle to retain his humanity when Justice League premieres later this year on November 17, 2017.
