If Joss Whedon had hoped that his recent interview with NY Magazine would allow him to put across his side of the story against accusations of misconduct on movie and TV sets since the 1990s, his words seem to have only strengthened the support for those who were on the receiving end of his actions, including Justice League star Ray Fisher. The actor has once again become the subject of the hashtag #IStandWithRayFisher that at one point became a trending topic bigger than the new trailer for Marvel’s Moon Knight. Fisher himself, like other actors mentioned in the article, made a post on his Twitter account in response to the comments.
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Ray Fisher played Victor Stone/Cyborg in Justice League, although his appearance in the original 2017 release of the movie was much less than originally planned by Zack Snyder thanks to cuts made by Whedon. In 2020, Fisher took the huge step of publicly accusing Whedon and others for racist and abusive behavior while filming on the superhero movie, accusations that were supported by other stars of the movies including Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa and Ben Affleck. For almost two years since Fisher spoke out about the issues faces on set, Whedon has held his silence on the subject other than short comments made by a spokesman, but a lengthy interview covering his whole career allowed Whedon the opportunity to put his feelings across, and he used it to refute almost every claim against him.
After claiming that he reduced Fisher’s role in Justice League as the “story didn’t make sense” and “Fisher’s acting was bad”, fans rallied behind the actor, refuting everything Whedon said based on the fact that they have now seen Zack Snyder’s version of the movie, with Fisher’s expanded role back to how the director intended. Based on this, many have said that there is nothing to back up anything Whedon stated as his reasons in the interview.
Joss Whedon’s Article Only Increased Support for Ray Fisher, Gal Gadot and Others
While a retrospective piece like the one published in NY Magazine should have allowed Joss Whedon the opportunity to clear the air a little, the reluctance of the director to take full responsibility for any of the accusations of misconduct, choosing instead divert blame away from his own actions, meant that a story that has started to slink into the background has been put right in the public eye again.
The overwhelming wave of backing for Ray Fisher, along with new comments from Gal Gadot in reply to Whedon’s belief that she didn’t understand him due to English being her second language, has brought little sympathy the filmmakers way. If anything, it has once again opened up the gates for other cast members of shows like Buffy, Firefly and more to double down on their previous claims about issues faced working with the writer/director, and the interview certainly has not helped paper over the cracks in his reputation but his instead seemed to make the damage irreparable.
