‘Justice League’ Stars Say DC Films Is Setting the Bar for Diversity

Hollywood is no stranger to criticism, and fans aren’t letting the industry sleep on their calls for diversity. Films like Ghost in the Shell have come under fire for whitewashing while Black Panther has been praised for its canon-compliant casting. Studios like Marvel and DC Films are expected to represent its own diverse fans on the big screen, and Justice League seems to do that without complaint.

Just ask Ray Fisher and Jason Momoa; they’ll tell you.

Recently, the two actors spoke with Empire Magazine about Justice League. It was there that Fisher, who plays Cyborg, praised DC Films for changing the game when it came to diversity.

“DC’s going to be changing the name to Diversity Comics pretty soon,” the actor said.

“You’re dealing with the only member of the Justice League who is African-American,” Fisher added. “You’re dealing with the only member of the Justice League who is in some ways what some would consider disabled. You don’t want to end up telling a story that isn’t respectful of those factors. But he’s going to be cool as hell.”

As for Momoa, the Hawaiian-American actor also showed DC Films love for reimagining Arthur Curry as someone of color. “He’s white with blond hair,” Momoa said. “But Zack had a vision. The fact that Aquaman is a brown-skinned superhero, I’m pretty stoked about that. I love being able to set the tone.”

Most fans are hyped to see Momoa bring Aquaman to life nowadays, but the Internet wasn’t always so kind to the actor and his casting. Some fans bristled over the fact that Arthur’s blond hair, blue eyes look was being tampered with, but Justice League has proven how little the character’s race factors into his overall schtick. The film will bring out Arthur’s connection with the ocean more so than the color of his skin, and Momoa is pumped to bring that to the big screen.

As for Cyborg, it is true that the character is a disabled one. The character may be fitted with high-tech cybernetic prosthetics, but he did have multiple limbs amputated after an accident. The only thing that kept Victor Stone from being permanently crippled was his father’s experimental technology, and it seems like Fisher is wanting to play up that element of Victor’s identity.

Justice League currently has a 4.18 out of 5 ComicBook.com User Anticipation rating making it the second most anticipated upcoming comic book movie among ComicBook.com readers. Let us know how excited you are for Justice League by giving the movie your own personal ComicBook.com User Anticipation Rating below.

Justice League opens in theaters on November 17, 2017.

(h/t Comic Book Movie)