Ray Fisher accuses Joss Whedon of 'abusive, unprofessional' behaviour on 'Justice League' set

A combination photo of actor Ray Fisher (left) and Joss Whedon. Fisher, who played Cyborg in the DC Comics film, 'Justice League', directed by Whedon, tweeted Wednesday that Whedon's treatment of the cast and crew was "unprofessional and completely unacceptable.” Whedon has not responded to Fisher on social media, and emails seeking comment were not immediately returned. Photo: AP

Actor Ray Fisher accused director Joss Whedon of "gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable" behaviour on the set of the 2017 film Justice League, in a tweet that quickly went viral on Wednesday (July 1).

Fisher also claimed in his tweet on Wednesday that former Warner Bros co-president of production Jon Berg, and former DC Entertainment president and chief creative officer Geoff Johns, both "enabled" Whedon's alleged behaviour on Justice League.

Berg and Johns also served as producers on Justice League, and the film's poor performance was a factor in both executives exiting their positions leading the DC Films unit at the studio.

Fisher offered no corroboration for his claims, and attempts to reach his representatives for further clarification went unanswered.

Whedon had no comment.

Ray Fisher in a scene from Justice League, as Cyborg. Photo: Warner Bros

A representative for Warner Bros did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon, Berg told Variety that it was "categorically untrue that we enabled any unprofessional behaviour."

"I remember (Fisher) being upset that we wanted him to say 'Booyaa, ' which is a well known saying of Cyborg in the animated series," Berg added.

Whedon - the director of Marvel Studios' blockbuster superhero movies The Avengers and Avengers: Age Of Ultron - took over directing duties for extensive additional photography on the DC comics adaptation from Zack Snyder, after Snyder left the project due to a death in his family.

Fisher played the cybernetic superhero Cyborg in the film, alongside Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, Ben Affleck's Batman, Henry Cavill's Superman, Jason Momoa's Aquaman, and Ezra Miller's the Flash.

The resulting film received mixed-to-negative reviews and grossed a disappointing US$657.9mil (RM2.81bil) worldwide; more importantly, the tonal mix of Snyder and Whedon's sensibilities led many fans to see the film as an unacceptable compromise of Snyder's true vision.

That led to a years-long grassroots fan campaign to "release the Snyder cut" of Justice League, which was ultimately successful: Snyder announced in May that his cut of the film will debut on HBO Max in 2021.

Fisher hinted at friction with Whedon earlier this week, when he tweeted a clip from the Justice League panel at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con in which he praised the filmmaker as "a great guy" and that Snyder "picked a good person to come in and clean-up - and finish up for him."

"I'd like to take a moment to forcefully retract every bit of this statement," Fisher tweeted. - Reuters