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    Cyborg Comic Writer David F Walker Stands With Ray Fisher On Racism Issue

    By
    David F. Walker, Ray Fisher, Cyborg

    Despite The Snyder Cut (aka Zack Snyder’s Justice League) being out on HBO Max and people seeing the truly uncut version of Zack Snyder’s vision, a lot of the talk about the film still has to deal with the behind the scenes actions that led to the theatrical cut that was released in 2017. The biggest chatter is about the character of Cyborg, played by Ray Fisher in the film. Comparing The Snyder Cut to the theatrical cut shows that Warner Bros and Joss Whedon butchered his story to make him much more basic. But why did they do that?

    For months before the release of The Snyder Cut and now weeks after it, Ray Fisher has been stating his side of the story. Mainly on how Joss Whedon, Geoff Johns, Jon Berg and more were trying to get him to conform to their ideas on the character for the theatrical cut of Justice League. Something that was further explained in a piece by The Hollywood Reporter that just came out that talked about how Geoff Johns and WB didn’t want an “angry black man” at the heart of the film.

    Many have been weighing in and taking both sides of the issue, and some are still questioning whether Ray Fisher is telling the truth. But one man who has stepped forward to confirm what Ray Fisher has said, and even added his own parts to the story, is that of former Cyborg comic writer David F. Walker.

    For those who don’t know, David F. Walker is a veteran comic writer who has been a part of many series both in terms of Marvel, DC Comics, and independent work. He’s the co-creator of Naomi and wrote her comic introduction into the DC Universe (that was so popular it will be a TV show on the CW).

    He also wrote a run of the Cyborg comic during the era known as the “New 52” and has a deep connection with the character via the nine issues he wrote (and other stories he guest-wrote), and he was happy to point out various things that Ray Fisher said that he felt were fair. Such as how Ray Fisher didn’t like the theatrical version having him say “Booyah” because that was a reference to the Teen Titans TV show version of Cyborg and not anything the character said beforehand:

    That line about him selling out was in reference to how he continued to write the comic despite his objections because he knew that DC Comics was going to put it in any way so at least he could still tell a strong Cyborg story despite the language he was forced to use.

    The reason Ray Fisher didn’t like it was because of the perception of it and how certain other African-American characters in TV, comics, and more are known more for their catchphrases and one-liners than their emotional depths. This was why Zack Snyder had Cyborg at the heart of his Justice League so he could try and show the depths and wonder of the character, and most reviews of The Snyder Cut cite Ray Fisher’s performance as one of the highlights of the film.

    Walker also answered fan questions about the issues with the Cyborg comic and his responses paint a very bleak picture of what was (and still is) happening with DC Comics and Warner Bros:

    Furthermore, David F. Walker made an interesting tweet about the future of Cyborg during his comic run and beyond:

    That tweet stands out the most because there was supposed to be a Cyborg movie starring Ray Fisher when the DCEU was first outlined. It was meant to arrive in 2020 but due to the failure of the Justice League film and these behind-the-scenes factors (and more), it never materialized.

    Ray Fisher even noted in interviews that he was supposed to be in the upcoming The Flash film starring Ezra Miller. But after he started to speak out about Joss Whedon, Geoff Johns, and the other acts done by the heads of WB, they decided to “move on from the character”.

    During a 2017 WonderCon interview, Walker talked about the importance of doing Cyborg and how he struggled with DC Comics to get him featured in a way that truly meant something:

    “It was a cage match, it was tables, ladders and chairs,” Walker said of his time on “Cyborg.” “There was a lot of struggle. I was like, ‘You don’t have enough Black characters, so you have to be cognizant that this character means more than you think he means. It’s not the story about, ‘Is he more man or is he more machine?’ He is more man. If he was 99% machine, he’s still gonna be more man. The story is about, he can see his own humanity, it’s always gonna show through. I know because comics meant more to me than they probably should have. Black characters meant more to me than they probably should have, because there were so few of them.”

    Walker also noted the appeal the character had for disabled fans. This is something Ray Fisher echoed during his time as the character.

    He added at the time:

    “I was under the false impression that all we needed was diverse creators working on diverse characters, and we’d be on our way to fixing a lot of problems. No, you also need diverse editors, people in the marketing department who get it, the distribution angle has to get it, retailers have to get it, the comics journalists have to get it. Unless you get all these things to align, you’re Sisyphus.”

    No matter whose side you’re on in this situation, it’s clear that there’s a lot going on here that needs to be talked about.

    But as Ray Fisher has said multiple times, the real issue here is A>E. Meaning that Accountability needs to be more important than Entertainment.

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    A self-proclaimed Nintendo fanboy, born, bred, and Mushroom fed! He’s owned every Nintendo handheld and every console since the SNES. He's got a degree in video game development, is a published comic book writer and an author of several novels!