Ray Fisher shares a behind-the-scenes video of Victor Stone's football scene that was cut in Justice League. After a brief appearance in 2016's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Cyborg made his official introduction in Warner Bros. first superhero team-up film from 2017. But the project had a convoluted production with rumored script rewrites, last minute director changes and extensive reshoots that left a lot of the scenes filmed during principal photography on the editing room floor. And out of everyone's stories, Stone's was the most affected.
An integral part of the plot, Cyborg had direct link with the Mother Boxes - the MacGuffins of the film with his powers originating from one of them. After initially turning down the invitation to join the band of DC heroes spearheaded by Batman and Wonder Woman, he eventually came around when his father was abducted by main villain, Steppenwolf. The character's origins were supposed to better establish the capabilities of the Mother Boxes, but with most of his narrative cut, it was easy to overlook his importance in the movie.
Now, thanks to a Justice League behind-the-scenes video that Fisher shared on his official Twitter account, fans can get a glimpse of a pivotal moment in Stone's arc. The sequence being shot is the football scene where he suffered the life-changing injury that nearly left him dead and ultimately unable to play the sport that he loves forever. Only through the Mother Boxes, which his father used to cybernetically reconstruct him, is he able to get back on his feet. Stone wasn't thrilled with the idea at first, but he eventually warmed up on the idea after joining the League.
As previously mentioned, there was a lot of director Zack Snyder's Justice League that didn't make it on the theatrical cut that Joss Whedon assembled. And that's a shame considering how the deleted scenes, particularly this one would've better established Stone's character that fans can be emotionally invested in him. Snyder described the character as the heart of the film, presumably due to the him having a more personal link to the overall story rather than simply being on the call for superhero duties. Aside from that, it's also a waste to simply get rid of the sequence considering the time and effort that was put into filming it. Snyder's son, Eli, who plays football in real life, even acted as unofficial scene advisor to his dad.
No word yet on when fans will see Fisher reprise the role as Cyborg. There's an extensive list of DC films in the pipeline that will run until 2022, but there's no mention of his involvement in any of them. The aforementioned Justice League cut scene would've been an effective way to make the character grounded in a way that the public can feel for him. It was a character moment that would be pivotal in the long run as they go through his arc in the DCEU. Unfortunately, with it not making on the big screen, the public barely has any emotional attachment to the character making him easier to cast aside.
Source: Ray Fisher
