Ray Fisher, who plays Cyborg in Zack Snyder's JUSTICE LEAGUE, set off a chain reaction of events that began with his very blunt accusations of Joss Whedon's "unprofessional" and "abusive" behavior on the JUSTICE LEAGUE set. Whedon was brought in to cover for Zack Snyder who had to leave the project due to a personal family tragedy. Whedon commissioned a series of reshoots on the film and while everything seemed like sunshine and roses once the film was released, Fisher has made it clear, at least from his perspective, this was not the case. As this plot thickens, director Kevin Smith has also weighed in on the matter and he's revealing that he heard from sources that Fisher's claims could be entirely accurate.
During an episode of the "Fatman Beyond" podcast, Smith made it clear that, from what he has heard, Whedon's behavior on set was far from ideal:
"Remember when I went to the Skywalker set and some people had working on both Solo and Justice League? The special effects guy said there was a fair amount of trash-talking of Zack's version of the movie on-set by Joss. Again, this is what a special effects guy who worked on both versions of the movie told me. But that he [Whedon] would cut down, dismiss, and be negative about Zack's version, which he had seen and all these people had made together without him and stuff."
One has to wonder what exactly Warner Bros. hired Whedon to come in and do on the film. Was he merely supposed to just finish the film that Snyder and his team had been working on for months or was he brought in to rework just about everything in regards to Snyder's vision? Whatever the intention was, Whedon did come in and changed the script and tone of the film, which ultimately resulted in a muddled mess of a movie that wasn't well-received by fans or critics. Smith goes on to say that Whedon's attitude on set made the cast and crew extremely uncomfortable:
"The guy had said he was kind of uncomfortable on-set because the people he was talking to about not liking that version of the movie were all people that had helped make that version of the movie, so that I think is probably the unprofessional thing. Like you don't do that, especially if you come in to help out during a bad moment in the director's life and stuff. But that's hearsay."
Joss Whedon has yet to weigh in on any of these claims and his silence could be a professional way of not engaging in drama or it could mean he knows there is some truth to the allegations and that others could back Fisher up if necessary. The main JUSTICE LEAGUE cast has not commented on the matter but Fisher is also showing public support to women who have made accusations against Whedon in the past. Fisher took to Twitter and posted "I believe Kai Cole and Charisma Carpenter." To provide a bit of background, Cole is a film producer and Whedon's ex-wife who, in 2017, wrote an open letter about her relationship with Whedon, claiming in part that his behavior in private didn't match his outwardly feminist persona in the entertainment industry. As for Carpenter, the actress played Cordelia Chase on Whedon's series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel. What began as a fruitful professional relationship, soured when Carpenter's storyline changed during season 4 of Angel after she revealed her pregnancy to production. She was eventually written out of the series and, if you were a fan like was, her character was practically destroyed before she actually departed the series. Carpenter has been quite vocal in the past that her pregnancy played a role in how she was treated during season 4 because those plans did not fall in line with what Whedon had in mind for the character.
Fisher definitely isn't seeing pushback, at least so far, about his claims against Whedon. Nic Pizzolatto, who was Fisher's boss on the third season of True Detective, seems to be showing his support on Fisher's Instagram page and if you go through the comments on the last four posts that Fisher has dedicated to this developing story, the majority of people commenting are backing him up. Whedon hasn't seen as much support but Alan Tudyk, who co-starred on Whedon's series Firefly, chimed in to defend the director by taking to Twitter and saying "Wasn't there, but I have known Joss for 17 years, I honestly can't imagine it and I have a pretty good imagination." This was in response to the "Variety" story that was run about Fisher's allegations of Whedon's behavior on the JUSTICE LEAGUE set. So far he's the only significant person that has defended Whedon while others have remained silent. In all honesty, these whispers about Whedon have popped up a lot over the years and they're dragged out again due to Fisher's bravery to publicly call him out about his behavior. For some, this could be a career killer but in an era where accountability is at the forefront, Fisher's claims only drive home the fact that this kind of behavior simply can't be tolerated.
What are YOUR thoughts on Fisher's claims? Do YOU think more people will weigh in with their own personal accounts of working with Joss Whedon?