Whedon reportedly told star Gadot that “he is the writer and she will shut up and say the lines.”
Last year, Justice League star Ray Fisher used social media to speak out against the director of the film’s remake, Joss Whedon, and Warner Bros. executives, but now he has given his first full interview on the subject. with The Hollywood Reporter. Included in Fisher’s long profile are details that expand the supposedly tense relationship between Whedon and Gal Gadot, co-star of Fisher’s Justice League.
The “Wonder Woman” actress said in December 2020 that her experience with Whedon “was not the best”, and now THR reports that, according to “a known source”, Gadot “had several concerns about the revised version” of “Justice League . “
The THR report says the sources shared that “the biggest conflict … came when Whedon pushed Gadot to record lines she didn’t like, threatened to damage Gadot’s career and discredited Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins. While Fisher refuses to discuss anything that happened to Gadot, a production witness who later spoke to investigators says that after a confrontation, ‘Joss was bragging that he was done with Gal. He told her that he is the screenwriter and that she will shut up and say the lines, and he can make her look incredibly stupid in this movie. ‘”
A source also told the channel that Gadot had “problems with his character being more aggressive than his character in ‘Wonder Woman’. She wanted to make the character flow from one film to the next. “
Gadot and Jenkins reportedly “went to battle” against Whedon, resulting in a meeting with then Warner Bros Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara. Gadot said in a statement to THR: “I had my problems with [Whedon] and Warner Bros. dealt with it in a timely manner. ”IndieWire contacted representatives from Whedon, Gadot and Warner Bros. for more comments.
Fisher’s profile also includes new details about actor Cyborg’s battles with Whedon and Warner Bros. executives. One point of contention between Fisher and executive Geoff Johns was about Cyborg’s physical appearance, with Johns allegedly telling Fisher to “play the character less like Frankenstein and more like the kindly Quasimodo.” The infamous Cyborg “booyah” line at Whedon’s cut was also reportedly a source of some tension.
By THR: “Fisher says that Johns approached [original ‘Justice League’ director Zack] Snyder about including the line, but the director didn’t want catchphrases. He managed the situation by placing the word on some plates in his version of the film, like an Easter egg. But Johns’ representative said the entire studio believed that the booyah phrase was’ a fun moment of synergy ‘”.
Fisher told THR that including the catchphrase in the live-action “Justice League” was reminiscent of “Black characters in pop culture with defining phrases: ‘Whatchoo talkin’ bout, Willis? ‘By Gary Coleman; Jimmie Walker’s ‘Dy-no-mite’! Fisher noted that no one else in the “Justice League” had a catchphrase and that “it seemed strange to have the only black character saying that.”
Visit The Hollywood Reporter’s website to read more about Fisher’s profile.
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