There has been a lot of talk about Cyborg and actor Ray Fisher concerning Justice League, but most of it has been built around his accusations of poor treatment by Joss Whedon and the film’s producers.
However, after this weekend, there might be more talk surrounding his performance as Cyborg in Zack Snyder’s Justice League because the movie has made him arguably the most important member of the team.
Spoilers follow for Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Cyborg’s origin story deepened
In the theatrical version of Justice League, Cyborg was in an accident and his father saved his life by creating a cyborg body for him.
In that version, Cyborg hated his dad for making him a monster. Zack Snyder’s Justice League did so much more for Victor Stone when it came to his origin story.
Vic Stone wanted his dad to come watch him play in his high school football game, but he wouldn’t. That was from both versions. However, in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Vic’s mom came to watch him play, but not his dad.
On their way home, the two were in an accident, and Vic’s mom died. His dad saved him, but he hated his father, saying if his dad was at the game too, his mom might not have died.
The movie also showed how important his mom was to Victor, especially considering his dad was too busy to be a good father.
Cyborg’s powers increased
Zack Snyder’s Justice League also introduced a fun scene where Cyborg learned about his powers.
His dad, Silas, left him a tape that explained what he could do. See, in the movie, Silas used the Mother Box to give Cyborg his powers, and it made him one of the Earth’s most powerful beings.
He could fly, had superhuman strength, and could turn his limbs into weapons. However, his computer brain was even more important.
Cyborg can do anything. He can launch every nuclear weapon on Earth at once. He can hack into the world’s banking systems and destroy the entire planet’s financial structure. There is nothing he can’t do.
However, his dad said the important thing is to only do what is right and not abuse these powers.
Cyborg does one thing in the movie. He sees a waitress who is struggling to live, who gets loose change for tips, has a child, and ends up evicted from her apartment. Cyborg moves things around, and she ends up “winning” a bank sweepstakes, thereby saving her life.
Throughout the movie, Cyborg proves he can do just about anything needed through communicating with computers.
Cyborg’s hero’s journey is a tragic one
The most important change is giving Cyborg the only real hero’s journey of the movie.
Cyborg never wanted to be a hero at all at the start of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. However, he felt he needed to help.
As the heroes tried to bring Superman back to life, the third Mother Box was blown out of STAR Labs. In the theatrical cut of the movie, Steppenwolf arrived and took it.
That didn’t happen in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Instead, Silas Stone took it into STAR Labs and blasted it with a powerful ray, dying in front of his son to do it.
While it seemed his sacrifice was in vain, he superheated the Mother Box, which is how the Justice League was able to track it. In the theatrical movie, it was all too easy, but here it showed that Silas knew it was what the team needed.
At the end of the movie, after the Justice League beat Steppenwolf, the final scenes showing the team was overlaid with Silas Stone talking to Victor on the same tape that explained his powers.
It gave Cyborg a chance to finally have closure with his dad and accept his place in the world as a hero.
Cyborg ended up as the heart and soul of Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is currently streaming on HBO Max.