Ray Fisher Being Canceled From The DC Universe?
Ray Fisher's Cyborg was left out of the customizable character options now available for Max profiles.
If anyone was wondering what Warner Bros.‘ next big oof would be following their recent name change from HBO Max to simply Max, we’ve got it for you. Ray Fisher, as Cyborg was initially left out of a roster of Zack Snyder’s Justice League-themed avatars subscribers can use for their profile. The new (old) Max streaming service is, like many streamers, offering up various characters that users can use to customize their individual profiles with one glaring omission.
Putting aside the optics of an entertainment conglomerate omitting the only Black character from the most iconic superhero team in existence, not including Fisher as punishment for speaking out against the way he was treated at DC, is just a really bad look for the streamer. As if the choice to ignore Ray Fisher’s contribution to the now-defunct DCEU wasn’t bad enough, Max decided to twist the knife, so to speak, by including other versions of Cyborg as avatar choices.
Subscribers are free to choose Joivan Wade’s version of the techno-organic superhero from Doom Patrol or the animated iteration from Teen Titans Go! voiced by Khary Payton, just not Ray Fisher’s big-screen version.
While one doesn’t want to assume that Max made the decision to purposely punish Ray Fisher for talking about the alleged abuse he suffered at the hands of Joss Whedon while filming Justice League (the bad one), it does kind of seem like that’s the case. Fisher started his DC whistleblowing with an accusation that Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon was guilty of “gross, abusive, unprofessional” behavior on the set of Justice League (the bad one). The actor also called out DC bigwig Geoff Johns for behavior that Fisher alleges was “blatantly racist” and was told his claims had no merit by DC Films then-president Walter Hamada, a friend of Johns.
As a result, Warner Bros. removed the vocal Fisher from The Flash early in the movie’s production. Ray Fisher said in a public statement that contrary to what had been reported, his role in The Flash was more significant than a mere cameo and that he “mourned” the lost opportunity to bring his take on Cyborg back to the big screen. Despite Warner Bros.’ attempts to convince Fisher that maybe he shouldn’t air their dirty laundry in public, the actor continued speaking out against DC execs. Fisher made disparaging statements about DC when they made the highly controversial decision to cancel the already-shot Batgirl movie last year.
Since the initial findings, Max has added Ray Fisher to the Justice League avatar roster, most likely due to the negative fan response to their initial omission of the actor. While that’s good news for fans of Fisher’s version of Victor Stone, it doesn’t change the fact that the actor should never have been left off the service to begin with.
This avatar kerfuffle is just the latest in a long string of oopsies Warner Bros. has committed since merging with Discovery. Hopefully, new DC leader James Gunn can get the studio’s properties back on track with his upcoming Superman: Legacy.
