Over the last half year, Justice League has been getting renewed attention on two fronts. In one corner, we have Zack Snyder’s Justice League coming to HBO Max year, which will allow fans to finally see the filmmaker’s definitive vision for the superhero team-up tale unfold. In another corner, Cyborg actor Ray Fisher has alleged that Joss Whedon, who directed the Justice League reshoots, treated the cast and crew abusively and unprofessionally. WarnerMedia subsequently launched an investigation into these claims, and now this probe has come to a close.
WarnerMedia officially announced the end of the investigation tonight, saying in a press release (via THR) that “remedial action has been taken.” Ray Fisher said on Twitter that some of this “action” has already happened, and some is “still to come.” WarnerMedia also said the following to him:
WarnerMedia appreciates you having the courage to come forward and assist the company with creating an inclusive and equitable work environment for it’s employees and partners.
Ray Fisher said in a follow-up tweet that there are “still conversations that need to be had and resolutions that need to be found” regarding this matter. He then thanked those who have provided support and encouragement during this “journey,” adding that “we are on our way” and that there would be “more soon.”
All this started back at the end of June, when Ray Fisher retracted all the praise he gave to Joss Whedon at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, which occurred four months before Justice League’s release. Days later, Fisher went public with his claims about Joss Whedon’s on-set behavior during his time on Justice League, and that Whedon was enabled by producers Jon Berg and Geoff Johns. Weeks later, Fisher said that during the Justice League reshoots when he tried to take his grievances up the “proper chain of command,” Johns called the actor into his office and made a “thinly veiled threat” to his career.
By late August, Ray Fisher revealed that WarnerMedia had launched an “independent third-party investigation” to get to the heart of the “toxic and abusive work environment created during Justice League reshoots.” However, by the beginning of September, Warner said in a statement that Fisher was not cooperating with the investigation, which the actor denied. Later that month, Fisher said that the firm handling the Justice League investigation had “avoided contacting key witnesses,” and mentioned other instances of cherry-picking who was spoken to.
The following October, Ray Fisher gave an interview where, among other things, he blamed Joss Whedon for cutting multiple characters played by actors of color from the final product, as well as accused the director of having the skin tone of a Justice League cast member altered. A source close to the production later told CinemaBlend that these characters had already been removed before Whedon came aboard, and that the skin tone alteration was entirely for technical reasons.
It’s also worth mentioning that on November 25, Joss Whedon announced that he was leaving the HBO series The Nevers due to being “genuinely exhausted” and wanting to “martial” his energy into his own life, which was on “the brink of exciting change.” Given Ray Fisher saying some action had already been taken as a result of the Justice League investigation, it’s unclear if any of this applied to Whedon’s departure from The Nevers or that was an entirely separate matter. Should any specific details emerge about the aftermath of this investigation, we’ll be sure to let you know.
As for Ray Fisher, you can see him back in action as Cyborg when Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which is being presented as a four-part miniseries, hits HBO Max sometime in the first half of 2021. Among the many changed viewers can expect from this Justice League compared to what was shown in theaters is Cyborg being reinstated as the “heart” of the story. Look through our DC movies guide for more information on what the DCEU has coming up.
