Justice League’s Ray Fisher Says Ben Affleck’s Flash Casting Reveal Was a Publicity Stunt

Justice League star Ray Fisher‘s campaign against Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Films has now ensnared Ben Affleck. In Fisher’s latest post on the subject, the Cyborg actor claims that the recent announcement that Ben Affleck’s Batman returning in the upcoming The Flash movie was little more than a publicity stunt by Warner Bros. In the post, Fisher states: “Unfortunately, the fake Frosty news with Jason wasn’t the only PR tactic used to distract from the seriousness of the JL situation. Ben returning as Batman was clearly meant to be revealed at DC Fandome. I’ll give you one guess as to why @wbpictures likely jumped the gun. A>E”.

To fill in some blanks: Ben Affleck’s return as Batman in The Flash was announced in the entertainment trades days before DC’s big “DC FanDome” virtual event, which was held last month. Some speculated that it was the studio that announced Affleck’s return in order to drum up hype for DC FanDome, and the actor’s appearance at the event; obviously Ray Fisher has a different take. When looking back, Fisher is not wrong: On August 20th he posted that WanerMedia had launched third-party investigations into the toxic work environment of Justice League. Later that same day, Warner Bros. announced (through the trades) that Ben Affleck’s Batman would be in The Flash.

It does bear mentioning that the other part of Fisher’s comment is also true: Later in the same day (July 1st) that Ray Fisher dropped a bomb on social media accusing Justice League replacement director Joss Whedon of being abusive, Warner Bros. just happen to also announce that Aquaman actor Jason Momoa was going to voice Frosty the Snowman in a live-action film. That Frosty movie happens to be produced by Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, two of the other Warner Bros. executives that Fisher had named alongside Whedon as doing wrong to him during Justice League‘s production.

It’s hard to look back over those July 1st and August 20th dates and not see the coordinated PR chess moves that Ray Fisher is pointing at. However, no one knows the actual motivations on WB’s part. It’s not a crime to want to deflect bad PR – whether it’s a truthful rumor or not. So far, many fans and actors (like Jason Momoa) have joined the #IStandWithRayFisher movement – though Fisher is also facing his own fair share of skeptics, while WB has claimed no malfeasance and a forthcoming investigation.

Zack Snyder’s Cut of Justice League will air as a four-part series on HBO Max in 2021.