Ray Fisher Playing Cyborg In Superman Vs. Batman
 Variety broke the news a about a half an hour ago that we can add one more official DC superhero to the list of those appearing in Superman Vs. Batman. Broadway actor Ray Fisher has been cast as Victor Stone aka Cyborg, though it's unclear as to whether or not he will be officially Cyborg in the film.
Fisher has already played a character who's gone toe to toe with Superman, as he's best known for the recent Broadway play Fetch Clay, Make Man, in which he played Muhammed Ali.
It's probably been an idea in the backs of the heads of screenwriter David S. Goyer and director Zack Snyder for quite some time. On one of the extras for the Man of Steel DVD, Henry Cavill talks about the character, and how excited he would be to have him appear in the franchise.
Well, would it work?
Some are already complaining that we have too many superheroes in a film we last officially called Superman Vs. Batman (though Variety calls it "an untitled Batman-Superman project.") But let's not forget that the movie that really started this craze of superhero films was X-Men, which introduced Wolverine, Rogue, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Professor X and Storm (among others) and was still pretty watchable.
So just because the movie is currently two superheroes in the title, that doesn't mean we can't have more. X-Men Origins: Wolverine may be a bad example, but it still added Beak, Blob, Deadpool and the White Queen to the mythos. Not only do we believe Warner Studios, which has declined comment as of this writing, plans to spin this into Justice League, there's no reason that Superman Vs. Batman could be exposing that other heroes have been around.
Or we are setting up an origin for Cyborg? We already know that the very first second unit footage shot was at a college football game. What is Victor Stone before an accident forces his S.T.A.R. Labs father to fuse him with experimental technology? A college football player.
If we take a step further, and assume that Goyer and DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns are still pretty close friends and that Johns is keeping an eye on this script, then we can also assume that the cinematic DCU is going to drift closer to the current New 52 version of the Justice League's origin -- recently animated as Justice League War.
That's sheerly speculation, but it would make sense. Establish Victor here. Bring in a menace so big that it will make Superman and Batman put aside their differences. That menace will spark another alien invasion (which goes along with the paranoia, right or wrong, that Goyer established in Man of Steel). Let's spitball that it's a bunch of Parademons. Victor is horribly injured in an attack, and his father performs the procedure that makes him Cyborg.
The true menace stands revealed, and the other heroes such as Wonder Woman (Gal Godot) come into the public eye to stand against it. The Oans dispatch a Green Lantern (not necessarily Hal Jordan; I'd still like to see Common take on the role of John Stewart). Maybe even Aquaman comes up from the depths.
That menace? Darkseid. And if Warner really does film this back to back, they could get a fully developed Darkseid onto the screen before Marvel could flesh out Thanos. (They are similar villains in many ways, and Darkseid DID appear first.)
So that's my hypothesis. It's not a blind belief in the quality of the movie, but it is a moment to stop and say, well, it could be just fine. So let's wait and see.
By the way, Cyborg was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez for The New Teen Titans, not Justice League. I do believe that DC will do right by Mr. Wolfman and Mr. Perez, but it's always worth remembering these characters didn't just appear out of the air.
|
