DC's Justice League actor Ray Fisher criticizes director Joss Whedon's behavior on set of the movie's reshoots. Fisher was cast in the DC Extended Universe as Victor Stone aka Cyborg by director Zack Snyder, first appearing in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice before having a bigger role in Justice League. However, then Snyder exited Justice League and Warner Bros. brought in Whedon to helm the reshoots and finalize the theatrical cut. With Whedon overseeing Justice League, a great deal of the film was cut and/or replaced, including much of Fisher's Cyborg storyline. Snyder has since teased Cyborg's much more significant role in his version of Justice League.
With the announcement that the Justice League Snyder Cut will be released on HBO Max in 2021, the cast and original director have offered new insight into what changes were made after Snyder exited. Additionally, since the Snyder Cut was officially announced, the Justice League stars have been more vocal about what they went through on Whedon's reshoots. Fisher previously retracted praise he'd given Whedon's Justice League work and now he's offered more information about what went on during the reshoots.
On Twitter, Whedon's behavior on the Justice League set, calling it "abusive" and "unprofessional." Fisher went on to name then-President and Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment Geoff Johns and producer Jon Berg as those who enabled Whedon's behavior on set. See Fisher's full statement below.
Joss Wheadon’s [sic] on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.
He was enabled, in many ways, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg.
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Rumors of Whedon behaving badly in Hollywood date back to Angel, his Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff, when he butted heads with star Charisma Carpenter after she became pregnant ahead of season 4. Her character's storyline was changed to for her pregnancy, and Carpenter was eventually written off the show, to great fan protest. This storyline, along with others from Whedon's other work - including Firefly, Buffy and Avengers: Age of Ultron - have been criticized for their clumsy and poorly written handling of' pregnancy, infertility and rape relating to female characters. In 2017, Whedon was accused by his ex-wife Kai Cole of hiding extramarital affairs and other bad behavior behind his persona as a feminist. Now, while it's unknown what exactly Whedon did on the set of Justice League, Fisher's statement is clear about the director behaving badly not just to the cast but the crew as well.
It's possible Fisher and other of the Justice League cast and crew will offer more details soon about what Whedon did on set. After all, Hollywood has been trying to hold abs and sexual harassers - and those who enable them - able in recent years since the #MeToo Movement began in late 2017. With Warner Bros. backing the Justice League Snyder Cut and planning to release it next year, that will hopefully extend to the actors' and them being vocal about their experiences with Whedon. At the time of Justice League's release, Whedon was also attached to DC's Batgirl movie, but departed the project in February 2018. Rumors at the time indicated it may be due in part to Cole's open letter about Whedon's behavior, in addition to Justice League's poor performance. Perhaps Whedon's behavior on the Justice League set also contributed to his exit from Batgirl. More insight into what happened on the Justice League set and after may come to light now that Fisher has come forward with these details.
Source: Ray Fisher/Twitter, Variety
