Warner Bros/Joss Whedon/Ray Fisher Justice League

[Holt]

I think Cyborg got Justice League status because they understandably wanted the Justice League to be at least a little more diverse than it was in the 60s (which is exactly what Bruce Timm says led to the inclusion of John and Hawkgirl in the TV show) and he was the most viable option from a corporate perspective. For a minority character, John Stewart made the most sense and probably would have been chosen had this been done prior to 2005, but this was in the era where the company was heavily promoting Hal Jordan as their next big A-list property, with his movie supposedly cementing his status as the next big Iron Man-type breakout character the very same summer the New 52 was supposed to launch. Obviously, that's now how it wound up working out (RIP Green Lantern: The Animated Series...you were great while you lasted), but it's clear WB was banking on it.

After that you had Static who, while very popular, was licensed from the McDuffie estate and thus not fully owned. I recall this causing potential issues with reprints and the like should the license expire, so again, a no-go.

Cyborg, though, seemed great on paper. He fills a techno niche in the team, he has a cool visual and, most importantly, he was a major character on the highly popular Teen Titans TV show that was still in recent memory (and airing in reruns) when this was all happening. So I can see why he seemed like an attractive choice and ultimately got the promotion.

[Frontier]

I think Johns was also a fan of the Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians cartoon that had Cyborg in it.

[Vordan]

John Stewart was going to be GL in that JL Mortal movie, so the execs absolutely had him in mind as a choice at one point I’m sure.

[Johnny]

John Stewart was going to be GL in that JL Mortal movie, so the execs absolutely had him in mind as a choice at one point I’m sure.

Besides JL Mortal was in development after Hal came back in the comics, but since that was while the JL cartoon was still on air, at the time it made perfect sense to go with the same GL that people saw on Saturday Morning TV. I don't know if Common would've been my first choice but hey, could always be worse, I mean Batman would've been played by Armie Hammer...

Cyborg will always be a could've/should've/would've situation for me since I always liked the character. Could've done way better with him after promoting him to the big League, should've given him a more attractive character design, would've done better in terms of popularity if he was handled by the right people. Now with this situation, I doubt I'd ever see that character in a DC movie again. Not that WB would've still been invested in him had Ray never spoke up about the JL reshoots anyway, but it kind of feels like outside of the TV shows, that's a character they would really try to avoid from now on.

[The Darknight Detective]

I think Johns was also a fan of the Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians cartoon that had Cyborg in it.

As was the case in 2011, Cyborg made the JLA in '85 because he was the most recognizable black superhero for DC (besides Black Vulcan, of course ).

[Bruce Wayne]

Didn't Cyborg join the team previously during the Robinson run?

The big push for Cyborg only started with Johns on Flashpoint (when it was still a summer crossover and not a reboot). He may have been on the Robinson Justice League, but he wasn't part of the core cast (and probably one of the many temporary member) compared to say Robinson's favorites like Jade/Mikaal Starman/Congorilla/Donna Troy/Dickbats.

[The Darknight Detective]

McDuffie said that could have been worked out better if DC was more HONEST in what they wanted. If they wanted to use Static only-it would have been CHEAPER in legal fee than trying to get everybody at Milestone to only hear writers like Gail Simone be DENIED usage of them. Even Supergirl's writer wanted Static for a team before he jumped ship.

Not the best move on DC's part, to be sure.

[Will Evans]

John’s also used Cyborg in his Wally West Flash run.


This was when the Titans were Nightwing, Donna, Tempest, Arsenal, Jesse Quick and Argent.

[Vordan]

Pretty sure Cyborg was going to be a part of the Johns/Lee JL run back before Flashpoint was turned into a reboot. So he was always going to get a push. Honestly I’m frustrated and kind of sad. All of that push, for a character I actually like, only to see it end like this.

[kalai]

The Geoff Johns/Jim Lee Justice League book before N52 became a reboot was going to feature:
Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Cyborg and Hawkman.
That lineup was first revealed back in 2009, and Johns using Cyborg in Flashpoint was no coincident.

Plus, if you go to DCUO, around the same time 2009-2011, Cyborg is also seen as a member of the JL,
which had Geoff Johns as the principle writer.
So pretty sure Johns was involved in pushing Cyborg during that time.

[Serpico Jones]

Well, about a week back I noted that this can be traced back to Snyder, himself. He gets close to people with platforms on YouTube and sends them on the attack against his enemies. Fisher, Randolph, and other YouTube personalities are soldiers in his war against WB.

Fisher tried to detract attention from the announcement of the new Supergirl, and now he's doing it Coates and a possible black Superman. It has nothing to do with diversity casting; most DC projects cast against type.
This is about Snyder (and by extension) Fisher being reduced to irrelevance at DC Films by Walter Hamada.

Yep. This is pretty much it.

[Holt]

The big push for Cyborg only started with Johns on Flashpoint (when it was still a summer crossover and not a reboot). He may have been on the Robinson Justice League, but he wasn't part of the core cast (and probably one of the many temporary member) compared to say Robinson's favorites like Jade/Mikaal Starman/Congorilla/Donna Troy/Dickbats.

Yes I remember that. It was very weird. He had this whole brand new cast that only lasted about 3 issues or so and then most of them were written out and replaced (I distinctly remember a big deal being made of Mon-El joining the team, only for him to be quickly written out and replaced by Supergirl).

[Johnny]

Pretty sure Cyborg was going to be a part of the Johns/Lee JL run back before Flashpoint was turned into a reboot. So he was always going to get a push. Honestly I’m frustrated and kind of sad. All of that push, for a character I actually like, only to see it end like this.

Yeah it's sad but sometimes it just doesn't work. Some characters can get a big push and in the end just doesn't pan out for whatever reason. Vic and Hal deserved better than what they got from Hollywood.

[The Darknight Detective]

The Geoff Johns/Jim Lee Justice League book before N52 became a reboot was going to feature:
Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Cyborg and Hawkman.
That lineup was first revealed back in 2009, and Johns using Cyborg in Flashpoint was no coincident.

Plus, if you go to DCUO, around the same time 2009-2011, Cyborg is also seen as a member of the JL,
which had Geoff Johns as the principle writer.
So pretty sure Johns was involved in pushing Cyborg during that time.

But by then, Hal was back in the saddle (blocking John) and going gangbusters, so Cyborg was the best choice available not named Static based on his recognizability.

[Drako]

Yes I remember that. It was very weird. He had this whole brand new cast that only lasted about 3 issues or so and then most of them were written out and replaced (I distinctly remember a big deal being made of Mon-El joining the team, only for him to be quickly written out and replaced by Supergirl).

This run was the most disappointing thing of the DickBats era. I remember when it was first announced it looked like a merge between the Titans and the Justice League, but by the forth of fifth issue most of the characters that were promoted weren't there.

You could see that it had a bunch of interference by the editorial, if i not mistaken Robinson wanted to use Wally but was refused so he choose Jesse Quick to replace him.

And it had one of the worst art by Mark Bagley i had seen.