Fans are rallying behind Justice League actor Ray Fisher, who portrayed Cyborg in the film, after Zack Snyder’s replacement Joss Whedon accused him of being a bad actor, citing that as one reason many of Fisher’s scenes were cut from the theatrical version of the DCEU blockbuster.
The Snyder iteration of the superhero epic was released last year on HBO Max, unsurprisingly to much higher critical acclaim than the 2017 Whedon version. If you need proof, just check the critical score of each film on Rotten Tomatoes, where the Whedon edition sits at a dismal 40% compared to the Snyder Cut’s robust 71%. We even put Zack Snyder’s Justice League as one of our top films of 2021.
In the Snyder Cut, Cyborg is given a much more prominent role, acting as the emotional heart of the entire movie. Whedon’s meddling, by contrast, relegated the character largely to the sidelines, and arguably reduced him to a “booyah!”-shouting caricature.
Whedon had been the subject of accusations of misconduct on set; first set off by Fisher, who was subsequently backed up by a number of other people, which was then followed by a string of other accusations from the director’s former collaborators. Even Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot said Whedon threatened her career if she went against him.
In a recent interview, Whedon called Fisher “a bad actor in both senses,” in response to the accusations. He also said the character was cut because it “logically made no sense.”
Unsurprisingly, fans have been rallying behind Fisher.
Entertainment journalist Stephen M. Colbert was quick to point out Whedon’s apparent deplorable strategy of gaslighting Fisher on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, of all days.
Gaming writer Cade Onder couldn’t help but point out the hypocrisy.
One Twitter user correctly pointed out how truly stomach-churning some of Whedon’s comments are in the New York Magazine piece about him, including saying he felt “powerless” to resist sleeping with young women on the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Movie reviewer Grace Randolph weighed in, saying Fisher’s performance in the Snyder cut of Justice League brought her to tears and calling Whedon “full of sh*t.”
If it hasn’t been made perfectly clear already, #IStandWithRayFisher is one of Twitter’s top trending topics all over again, and it doesn’t look as though the internet’s perception of Whedon has changed in the slightest. If anything, it’s only gotten worse.