Cyborg
Expected: April 3rd, 2020
Character Synopsis: The genius, but disaffected son of two scientists, Cyborg is Victor Stone – a young man who has various body parts replaced with advanced prosthetics after a horrific laboratory-based accident.
Origin: Cyborg is a character specifically nurtured toward great things, and essentially replaced Martian Manhunter in The New 52 re-launch of Justice League. While the re-launch changed most of his origin story, the conflict the character has with his father remains constant. Originally, Victor is a teenager clashing with his work-obsessed parents, and rebelling against their expectations, until he gets caught up in a terrible accident in their lab – leaving him injured and disfigured. His father saves him by replacing parts of his body with metallic advanced prosthetics, which ultimately leads to Victor becoming a superhero and member of the Teen Titans (a team of teenage superheroes).
In the re-launch, Victor’s origin is weaved into a new origin for Justice League, with his accident being tied directly to the team’s battle with the Parademons. The incident that provides the new origin of Justice League therefore becomes Cyborg’s origin, too.
Powers: Cyborg’s combination of inate genius-level intellect and advanced prosthetics create a range of impressive powers – including super strength, super speed, stamina, durability, flight, super sight, and teleportation (as a result of The New 52 origin). He also has the ability to interface with computers, can breathe underwater and possesses a range of integral weaponry.
Greatest Enemies: The nature of Cyborg’s history – as a character integral to the groups Teen Titans and Justice League – means that many of the enemies he has faced have been those fought by his teams. His foes have included Alexander Luthor (son of an alternate timeline Lex Luthor), Trigon (a sadistic interdimensional demon), the Brotherhood Of Evil (made up of arch-enemies of the Teen Titans), and the self-explanatory Cyborg Revenge Squad.
Casting: There was very little time for speculation regarding the role of Cyborg because, once his appearance in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice was confirmed, the casting of Ray Fisher followed very soon after. Significantly, that casting decision was met with very little dissent from fans.
History and future: Having debuted in comics as a ‘special insert’ in ‘DC Comics Presents’ #26 in 1980 – created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez – Cyborg is practically a newcomer amid a Justice League comprised of some of DC’s oldest characters. His team affiliations, with Teen Titans and Justice League thrust him right into the thick of the action, however, and he has long been regarded as a highly relatable character. To date, he has only ever been depicted in animation, and a single appearance in Smallville, however. But, with two Justice League movies and a solo outing planned, Warner Bros./DC are clearly expecting big things for a cinematic Cyborg.
– Sarah Myles
