Anmol Ahuja
As stated in one of my earlier articles regarding the probability of a sequel for ‘Justice League’ and the future of the DCEU in general, the failure of Justice League, both commercial and critical, DC’s then tent pole film that was meant to mark the beginning of a whole new era for the DCEU, put into motion a sequence of events that would go on to encompass a very different future for the entertainment world and the DC shared universe than what could have been.
The fate of any possible future DC team-up film now lies in the balance with the emphasis clearly being on developing solo movies, however far sounding or relatively lesser known that character may be, which is the only thing that can explain the studio’s eagerness on doing ‘The Trench’ more than say a ‘Man of Steel 2’, a sequel to the first film in the DCEU that introduced one of the pivotal league members, Superman.
The notable thing here is that even while movies fail day in and day out, and entire cinematic universes hinging on one film too can be deemed to fall, in the case of ‘Justice League’ and the DCEU, the fall became a topic for media discussion even years hence, primarily because the fall was one of an assumed titan, and because it ultimately led to a chain reaction of events that would go on to change a lot of things from what was originally envisaged. The brunt of it was eventually also borne by the solo ‘Cyborg’ movie, along with a host of others that got slashed in the process. Newcomer Ray Fisher portrayed the cybernetically enhanced superhero after first being introduced in ‘Batman V Superman’ in a short cameo, and to put it plainly, it could easily go one of two ways from here on. Here is everything we know of the less probable ‘Cyborg’ solo movie. Read on.
Is The Cyborg Movie Happening?
Three years have passed since the release of ‘Justice League’, and that is the last we saw the character, atleast on the big screen. Since then, the character has made two other appearances (not played by Ray Fisher and unconnected to the DCEU), the first being in the ‘Teen Titans Go’ movie, and the second in DC Universe’s ‘Doom Patrol’ series, and quite frankly, the writing is on the wall with the second one. Even though DC has had series and films running unconnected in the past with separate casts headlining both, the case seems different here since the casting was almost immediate. To add to that, there is increasingly scarce word on the Cyborg movie itself.
Just as with the derailment of ‘Justice League’, WB seems intent on brushing this under the rug. For a while now, reports have indicated that there have been two warring sides on whether or not there will be a new Cyborg movie that should fit reasonably well within DC’s and WB’s plan of focussing on solo movies instead of team-ups. One of them is still optimistic that a ‘Cyborg’ movie is not completely off the charts and may take shape sometime in the future, as with The Flash’s solo movie. The other, more pragmatic one, has already written off any chances of there being a Cyborg movie in the near or far future, as the studio simply doesn’t seem interested in developing the character further than what Snyder had envisioned during his run with the shared universe.
To add to that, Cyborg, even in the comics has rarely functioned without an associated faction, be it the Justice League or more commonly, the Teen Titans. Therefore, if you ask me, I will undoubtedly have to side with the latter. Despite being a fan, it aches me to say that given the current direction the DCEU seems to be heading in, there seems to be no place for a solo Cyborg film somewhere down the line.
Besides, it is abundantly clear that WB have considered the commercial viability of each of the films that they have chosen to invest in for their future, and I simply don’t see ‘Cyborg’ fitting in that scheme. It is my assumption that even in the far future, if a second Justice League film materialises, it will move away from Snyder’s established League, almost as a soft reboot of sorts, and could feature the Green Lantern Corps or even the Martian Manhunter over Cyborg, who was only recently introduced in the comics as a canon member of the league, owing to his indispensability when it came to interfacing with the Mother Boxes, and his new origin story involving his cybernetic parts being birthed from the Mother Boxes.
Cyborg Movie Theories: What Could It Have Been About?
If you look at it, the blueprint for an entire Cyborg solo movie lies in what we have seen with the films so far. But then again, you have to consider that there was probably more reason to them not being a separate film instead of snippets instead of DC’s botched up plan. We all know Cyborg’s origin to be from his alter ego, Victor Stone, being the victim of a horrible accident, and his father saving his life by attaching cybernetic parts to his body to ensure his survival.
Since in the comics and many incarnations of the character, there have been multiple variations of those, we are going to stick with the New 52 storyline, which is also what the DCEU followed closely, wherein Victor is shown as a high school football star playing for Gotham City and having a distant relationship with his father, with his accident having occurred inside S.T.A.R Labs itself. His father, Silas Stone then uses cybernetic parts along with powering him through a mother box, which is what made his character so indispensable in both the film version and the New 52 comics.
Throughout this section of the article, you will see images, some of which never made it onto the final cut of ‘Justice League’, that show the immediate aftermath of the accident from his brief cameo in ‘Batman V Superman’, and a few shots of his life before the accident that changed his life forever. That, along with showcasing the fate of Victor’s mother who died in a similar accident, something that drove Silas Stone to act the way he did is what I believe could have been a workable blueprint for a Cyborg solo movie. They sure have unused footage for it!
Furthermore, Ray Fisher who portrays Cyborg in the live action DCEU through the use of CGI had this to state about the solo film and the challenges that Cyborg brought forth as a character. “Cyborg is a technopath, which means he can just interface seamlessly with anything technological. His greatest weakness is actually trying not to succumb to the technology. Trying to stay human.”
Cyborg Movie Cast: Who Could Have Been In It?
For those still clinging to hope, Ray Fisher was contracted to play Cyborg in Justice League, a Flash solo film and his own solo film, so officially, speaking, there still are chances for Fisher to reprise his role. Fisher made his feature film debut in a full role with ‘Justice League’, so one might feel bad for him at the current predicament DC Films have put him in, but then again, his performance in the third season of ‘True Detective’ has made sure he is here to stay.
Other than the titular star, the only other actor officially confirmed to reprise his role form both DCEU films is Joe Morton, who is still hopeful that a Cyborg movie may happen down the line. “From what I understand, there will be a Cyborg movie. It will be about him and I, and about the family that he came from, how he becomes the Cyborg, et cetera. But from whence he came, as well. I think it’s very exciting. I think it’s exciting because there aren’t that many, if any, black superheroes, and in his case in particular, because there is no alias, because there is nothing for him to hide behind, and that he has to be who he is all the time.”
Cyborg Movie Crew: Who Could Be Behind It?
No director(s) or writer(s) have yet been finalised for the film. ‘Cyborg’ if at all, is yet to enter pre-production.
Cyborg Movie Release Date: When Can it Come Out?
The Cyborg solo film was set to be released on April 19, 2020 according to the original DC Calendar that lies all but in shreds after ‘Justice League’. Realistically speaking, especially since there has been no chatter surrounding the film, and DC and WB too have chosen to remain hush-hush about it, a ‘Cyborg’ solo film seems unlikely to materialised at this point, but I am still keeping my fingers crossed for this one.
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