Filmmaker Zack Snyder plucked stage actor Ray Fisher out of obscurity when he cast him as Cyborg, and fans are now anxious to see his take on the character (minus Joss Whedon's changes) in Zack Snyder's Justice League on HBO Max next year. The fact he was cast is something Fisher clearly appreciates, though, which was evident from some recent comments made on Twitter.
However, there's more to it than just that.
"I don’t praise Chris Terrio and [Zack Snyder] for simply putting me in Justice League," he says. "I praise them for EMPOWERING me (a black man with no film credits to his name) with a seat at the creative table and input on the framing of the Stones before there was even a script!"
Snyder would later respond to that by saying Fisher is "the heart of my movie," and that's something we're clearly going to be given the opportunity to explore in Zack Snyder's Justice League next year.
It's just a shame that clearly ended up on the cutting room floor when Whedon took charge of the DC Comics adaptation, but at least the movie's original director can now redeem Cyborg's story arc.
Click on the "Next" button below to see the moments we're
most excited about checking out in the "Snyder Cut"!
10. Steppenwolf's Original Demise
In Justice League, Steppenwolf is so overcome with fear that his Parademons carry him back through a Boom Tube and seemingly consume their master in the process. It was pretty lame, but Snyder's version saw the heroes overpower the villain, with Wonder Woman dealing the killing blow.
The Amazon Warrior was set to cut off his head, a fitting end to his story in the darker DC Extended Universe dreamed up by the filmmaker.
Diana Prince is a warrior, and while heroes aren't supposed to kill, this feels like the right way for Steppenwolf to get his comeuppance, and a cool fight scene to boot. This also led to a cool Darkseid reveal, but we'll get to that a little later in this post...
9. Cyborg's Vision
You know what, why wait? Following Steppenwolf's defeat at the hands of the League, his head was supposed to roll through a Boom Tube and land at the feet of the villainous Darkseid.
The heroes would have briefly come face to face with the bad guy, thereby setting the stage for them to come face to face in the planned sequel. However, while Cyborg was attempting to separate the Mother Boxes, he was supposed to get a vision of both the ruler of Apokolips and Knightmare.
All of this was clearly meant to set the stage for what comes next, and would be epic to see on screen.
8. Barry Allen Saves Iris West
One of the most widely discussed deleted scenes from Justice League would have seen Barry Allen using his superspeed to save Iris West (the Scarlet Speedster's future wife in the comics).
Played by Kiersey Clemons, Iris was to be shown flung from a car after crashing, and Barry was going to race into action and save her, likely exposing his powers in the process. That would have no doubt led to her becoming obsessed with finding the Flash in his planned solo outing.
Now, we're not even sure if Clemons will get to reprise the role, but getting to see what Snyder had planned for Iris in his original version of the film - and what sounds like a unique display of Barry's powers - could actually add a lot of this adventure.
7. Mera's Original Cameo
Mera's appearance in Justice League was beyond cringe-worthy as it took place inside a bubble under the water, contradicting pretty much everything we ended up seeing in Aquaman the next year. However, we know in the Snyder Cut that she was supposed to come ashore to speak to Arthur Curry, and it's that scene we're desperate for in Snyder's version of the film.
Their exchange could be exactly the same or totally different, but it's hard not to be curious about what was originally planned for these heroes before Whedon decided to make his changes.
Bear in mind that Willem Dafoe's Vulko was also meant to appear, but he was completely cut from Justice League. That too is a sequence we can't help but be extremely curious about.
6. Junkie XL's Score
This isn't exactly a deleted scene, but bear in mind that before Joss Whedon chose Danny Elfman to score his version of Justice League, Junkie XL was attached to work on the movie.
The composer has confirmed that he actually finished his score for Snyder before Whedon essentially decided to fire him, and as much as we love Elfman, Junkie XL's score likely would have fit this movie better. Getting to hear that as the League head into action against Steppenwolf would give this film a very different feel, and completely transform what we see on screen.
Thankfully, if we do get to see the Snyder Cut, then it will undoubtedly include Junkie XL's score.
5. Cyborg Reveals The Origin Of The Mother Boxes
Everything from Victor Stones' origin story to additional powers (remember that shot of him in the trailers with metal covering his face?) were cut from Justice League by Joss Whedon. As a result, the character ended up falling by the wayside, but there's one sequence, in particular, we're keen to see.
Cyborg was going to explain to the League that the Nazis found one of the Mother Boxes during the war, and that's how it ultimately found its way to S.T.A.R. Labs and Silas Stone.
Talking of Silas, he was meant to die in the Snyder Cut, and that would have completely changed how things ended for Cyborg as something tells us he wouldn't have had that happy ending. For those of you who have forgotten, that showed him showing off his upgraded armour to his father.
4. Time-Travel, Explained
This one is a little vague as we don't entirely know how it was meant to fit into the wider context of the movie. However, it sounds like a game-changer, particularly for the unfilmed sequel.
In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, one of the most baffling moments came when the Flash travelled back in time to deliver a cryptic warning to Bruce Wayne from that Knightmare future. Well, Zack Snyder's Justice League was set to elaborate on that, with a more detailed explanation and some sort of reference or appearance from the Cosmic Treadmill.
For comic book fans, this would have been awesome. Snyder, meanwhile, has also alluded to Barry Allen travelling back in time during the final battle in order to help the team beat Steppenwolf.
3. The Original Battle For The Mother Boxes
The invasion of Earth in Justice League was meant to be much longer, and instead of it being quickly narrated by Wonder Woman, the King of Men, Atlan, Yalan Gur, and the Old Gods were all meant to have much larger roles. That means Uxas (the young Darkseid) was also set to appear.
Basically, Joss Whedon replaced Uxas with Steppenwolf, and we were meant to see Darkseid facing off with Ares before eventually being forced to return to Apokolips empty-handed.
In Snyder's hands, we're sure this whole thing would have been vastly more exciting and epic, and the fact Uxas/Darkseid was cut from the movie is downright unforgiveable in all honesty.
2. Martian Manhunter
This sequence was never shot, but we're sure Warner Bros. could give Zack Snyder the money to finish this off. In the Snyder Cut, Lois Lane and Martha Kent met to discuss Clark Kent's demise, but when the latter left, we learned that it was actually Martian Manhunter posing as his mother.
He then would have transformed into Harry Lennix's General Swanwick, revealing that the Man of Steel's reluctant ally was, in fact, this shape-shifting Martian the entire time.
It's not believed that his role in Justice League was any larger than that, and Martian Manhunter was probably meant to appear in the sequel. Regardless, if the storyboards are any indication, then seeing this transformation would have left a lasting impact on comic book fans.
1. Superman Returns
If it wasn't for the fact that you'd end up being blind drunk, it would be pretty fun to play a drinking game while watching Justice League and to take a drink every time Superman's CGI mouth appears. Those signalled the scenes which were reshot by Joss Whedon, and only a small handful from the original cut ended up being seen in theaters back in November 2017.
As a result, there's a lot of intrigue surrounding the Man of Steel's original role in proceedings, including whether he donned the black suit (Snyder has indicated that he did) and how he was originally resurrected. The filmmaker has confirmed that he was going to fall under Darkseid's control in the sequel, but it that something which was going to be touched on here?
We don't know, but we're sure that the Snyder Cut will completely change Superman's story...