Ray Fisher should be a superstar by now.- "Zack Snyder's
Justice League " proves he was on the verge. - But Fisher calling out Joss Whedon's alleged "abusive" behavior on 2017's "Justice League" changed all that.
There is no doubt that the release of "Zack Snyder's Justice League" has proven that the director's original vision for the DC superhero blockbuster was heavily distorted when it came out in 2017. And, if you delve a little deeper, you will find in the 4-hour "Snyder cut" that Ray Fisher's performance as
But then Joss Whedon happened.
Six months before "Justice League" came out, Snyder left the movie due to the suicide death of his daughter. Warner Bros. decided to have Whedon, who was already doing rewrites on the movie, take over the reins. Clearly his superhero pedigree was an attractive draw to the executives at WB as Whedon had made Marvel's "The Avengers" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron."
Unfortunately, Whedon wasn't the savior "Justice League" needed. The movie became a critical and box office punchline. And with whispers that Snyder's true vision was pushed aside for Whedon reshoots that included a cowering Russian family subplot and jokes that fell flat, the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement was born.
Fast-forward to today, the Snyder cut is finally a reality. You can certainly make the argument that given full rein and a streaming service hungry for content (
"Justice League" really is the Cyborg origin story
Unlike the 2017 version, Fisher's Cyborg in the Snyder cut is no longer a supporting character whose role is basically tech support for the Justice League.
In fact, in Synder's version, Cyborg is the lifeblood of the movie.
He gets most of the screen time out of the Justice League members. A big reason for that is because his character was the most picked apart in the 2017 version (with The Flash coming in a close second).
The Snyder cut isn't just the forming of the Justice League but the origin story of college football star Victor Stone becoming Cyborg. Complete with a powerful backstory, we watch through a good chunk of the movie as Victor tries to understand his cyborg form, how the power he's been given could be used for good, and deal with his father issues.
This is evident in a scene that was left out of the 2017 version where Victor assists a single mother trying to get by as a waitress by hacking into her bank account so she suddenly goes from having $11 to over $100,000.
There are countless other scenes in the Snyder cut that shows Cyborg's importance to the story - him leading the Justice League through the Kryptonian ship to bringing Superman back to life, and his dramatic attempt to separate the Mother Boxes in the movie's final battle.
But none of this would be impressive if it weren't for the actor.
Fisher has the swagger and talent to become a Hollywood star
Ray Fisher, 33, was a virtual unknown when he was cast as Cyborg leading up to 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Used strictly as a cameo along with Aquaman and The Flash, it would be a year later with "Justice League" that we would finally see Fisher's talents as an actor.
Having grown up doing Shakespeare and live theater, Fisher certainly had the chops to act opposite the likes of Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Henry Cavill, and Jason Momoa. But an actor also needs swagger to be a Hollywood star. You can certainly see that in Fisher - even though most of us have only seen him with half of his face covered in CGI metal and sporting a red eye.
Even in the Whedon reshoots - which featured a less impassioned first encounter between Cyborg and Wonder Woman and him having to utter the cartoony catchphrase "booyah" that Cyborg is known for on "Teen Titans Go!" - Fisher delivers an intensity that showcases not just talent but star quality. The camera loves him.
You can see it in his other work, too. In 2019 he played police detective Henry Hays in the third season of HBO's "True Detective." Having most of his screen time opposite Mahershala Ali, who played his father Wayne Hays, a retired detective who can't shake the memory of a child disappearance case decades ago, Fisher delivers that same ownership and strong screen presence that he did as Cyborg.
It's that rare ability of talent and star quality that makes him perfect not just to carry a movie but an entire franchise. And that's what "Justice League" should have been the catapult for.
The last year has shown Fisher's greatest trait: perseverance
If all went accord to plan, Snyder said Fisher was lined up to have his own standalone movie.
"I just feel like he kind of comes out the back end of 'Justice League' as fully realized and ready to roll," the director told Deadline in March.
But that won't happen.
Three years after "Justice League" hit theaters, Fisher tweeted that Whedon's behavior on set "was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable."
The tweet sent shockwaves through Hollywood, leading WarnerMedia to conduct an investigation (which resulted in no public details except that "remedial action" was being taken). Gradually, Fisher's "Justice League" castmates like Momoa and Gadot backed up Fisher's claim. And "Justice League" producer Deborah Snyder told Insider she reported an incident on "Justice League" that involved Whedon to Warner Bros. before the movie opened.
Fisher could have easily stayed quiet about Whedon's alleged behavior, moved on from his chopped-to-pieces role in "Justice League," and we'd probably be talking about him starring in "The Flash" standalone movie and preparing to shoot a Cyborg movie.
But he decided to speak out. It's a road less traveled because it has consequences: 2019's "True Detective" was the last time we've seen him on screen. According to Fisher, the Cyborg character was taken out of "The Flash" after he spoke out about Whedon and the Warner Bros. executives who enabled his behavior.
However, the last year showcases perhaps Fisher's greatest trait: perseverance.
He's been cast in the upcoming ABC limited series "Women of the Movement," focusing on key female figures in the Civil Rights Movement, and won't back down from his claims of what happened on the set of "Justice League."
Right now, Fisher's leading man status is more prominently noticed in how he's using his
Because we have only scratched the surface of what Ray Fisher can do on screen.