It’s been four months now since Justice League star Ray Fisher first accused director Joss Whedon of “gross, abusive, and unprofessional” behaviour towards the cast and crew of the 2017 DC blockbuster, yet tensions remain high as Fisher continues to speak out on social media about the filmmaker.
With his latest allegations – made this past week to Forbes – Fisher accused Whedon of cutting several characters played by people of colour including Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), Ryan Choi (Zheng Kai) and Cyborg’s mother Elinore Stone (Karen Bryson), and that: “What set my soul on fire and forced me to speak out about Joss Whedon this summer was my becoming informed that Joss had ordered that the complexion of an actor of color be changed in post-production because he didn’t like the color of their skin tone. Man, with everything 2020’s been, that was the tipping point for me.”
In response, a spokesperson for Whedon spoke to CinemaBlend, stating that Iris West, Ryan Choi and Elinore Stone had all been cut from the film before Whedon became involved, and that “the statement that these roles were cut by Joss is false.” And, with regards to claims that Whedon had altered skin tones in post production, the spokesperson added:
“The individual who offered this statement acknowledged that this was just something that he had heard from someone else and accepted as truth, when in fact simple research would prove that it was false. As is standard on almost all films, there were numerous people involved with mixing the final product on this film, including the editor, special effects person, composer, etc., with the senior colorist responsible for the final version’s tone, colors, and mood. This process was further complicated by the fact that Zack Snyder shot on film, while Joss shot on digital, which required the team, led by the same senior colorist who has worked on previous films for Zack, to reconcile the two.”
“This is only a hair’s breadth away from Jon Berg’s, ‘Fisher was upset about booyah’ defense,” said Fisher in response to the statement from Whedon’s reps. “I’ve been trying my best to make sure that Joss Whedon and Jon Berg aren’t able to be thrown completely under the bus by the other guys. But when they make these half baked knee-jerk excuses publicly, they make my job a lot harder.”
It seems we’re far from a resolution here, as Fisher went on to state in his Forbes interview that he intends on revealing further details once WarnerMedia completes an investigation into his allegations against Whedon, as well as producers Geoff Johns and Jon Berg and Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich (each of whom he accuses of participation in “blatantly racist conversations” ahead of Whedon’s reshoots), adding: “I plan getting much more specific about each of these guys after the investigation is over.”
In Justice League, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder and features Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta and Robin Wright as General Antiope, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Amber Heard as Mera, Ciaran Hinds as Steppenwolf, Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke, and Ray Porter as Darkseid.
