Shots recently were fired by Ray Fisher in the general direction of Joss Whedon, the director who was hired to replace Zack Snyder on the Justice League movie that arrived in theaters in 2017. There has been rampant speculation over the years that Whedon’s efforts to rework Snyder's footage were opposed by the Justice League cast, and that producers Geoff Johns and Jon Berg enabled the director during reshoots. Previously, most of the cast was unable to speak on the matter. Well, Fisher is taking the gloves off.
The actor who played Cyborg in the film has unleashed this tweet, confirming suspicions of the DC fanbase:
There has been no follow up Tweet from Ray Fisher, but the post begs numerous follow up questions regarding Joss Whedon’s behavior. What did he do to the Justice League cast and crew that was, as Fisher put it, “abusive” and “unprofessional”? What actions could Whedon have done on set that would deserve to be called “gross” by the man who played Cyborg in the theatrical cut of Justice League?
There have been rumors over the years, with very few people tied to the production willing to speak on record. Justice League is a movie plagued by reshoots, with Joss Whedon being instructed (allegedly by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg) to change anywhere from 60-90 percent of Zack Snyder’s existing footage. There are scenes that disturb DC fans, like The Flash (Ezra Miller) having to fall face first onto Wonder Woman’s chest during a battle, for the benefit of a laugh.
And there are jokes about being “thirsty” in the theatrical cut that likely are attributed to Joss Whedon reshoots, as they don’t sound like anything Zack Snyder would include in his story. Fans have often complained online about how tone-deaf and insensitive these moments are, but we're unclear if this is what Ray Fisher might be referring to.
Actor Alan Tudyk is a friend and collaborator to Joss Whedon, and took to social media to defend the filmmaker in the wake of Ray Fisher's allegations about Justice League's set. You can check out Tudyk's post below.
Lucky for Ray Fisher, Zack Snyder is going to get a chance to tell his audience how Justice League was supposed to turn out. HBO Max has greenlit Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which will arrive on the streaming service in 2021. It will restore Snyder’s ultimate vision for DC’s first Justice League team up. And it will be stripped of Geoff Johns and Joss Whedon’s attempts at lightening the DCEU in an effort to achieve the success enjoyed by Marvel Studios.
What won’t be forgotten, if Ray Fisher has any say, is the way that Joss Whedon reportedly behaved with the cast that he inherited as he attempted to morph Zack Snyder’s Justice League from a serious, adult superhero effort into a more mainstream comic-book blockbuster. I have said before that the task assigned to Whedon was nearly impossible. And is the studio, at the time, really wanted a Justice League movie from Whedon’s vision, they should have stripped the entire movie down to its foundation and allowed him to start over. Whedon delivered two successful Avengers films for Marvel. There's no telling what he might have been able to do with DC's characters if given the proper time and resources.
More truths likely will come out regarding the behind-the-scenes decisions made by Geoff Johns, Jon Berg and Joss Whedon as they worked with Justice League and its cast. I’m thrilled Snyder is getting to tell his story, but I hate hearing accusations like this from Ray Fisher suggesting that anyone involved had to endure difficulties to get us to this point.
