How Justice League Will Make You Care About Cyborg

DC's upcoming Justice League movie features many well-known and iconic heroes from comic book lore, but one of those characters isn't as familiar to the average moviegoer: Cyborg. However, Joe Morton--who plays the character's father, Dr. Silas Stone--says that while Cyborg may be unknown to some, there is enough in the film to introduce him and make people care about the character.

While promoting the theatrical re-release of Terminator 2: 3D, Morton--who played Cyberdyne Systems employee Miles Dyson--discussed his role in Justice League as the father of Cyborg. We were first introduced to Dr. Silas Stone in 2016's Batman v. Superman during a string of clips introducing the audience to Flash, Aquaman, Silas, and Victor Stone (AKA Cyborg).

Aside from the pages of DC Comics, the superhero has appeared in a few animated series, Smallville, and most recently, Injustice 2; however, the character still doesn't have the reach--nor the same time in the spotlight--as his Justice League counterparts. "Some characters you'll know better than others," Morton told GameSpot. "Flash, there's been a lot of stuff about Flash, either on TV or I think [he] even has a movie coming out. There are certain characters that the audience knows because they have a history. Batman and the rest of it. They all have history. I think the only folks that'll know about Silas Stone and Cyborg are the comic book geeks, the folks who really, really know the comic books.

"I suppose on that level they are relatively new characters to get to know and supposedly what will happen after Justice League, at some point, is there will be a movie that centers on Cyborg, so you'll get a better picture on who he is and what his life and what his whole thing is about."

While there have been many fans critical of DC and Warner Bros. for first introducing characters in a team movie, there are plenty of examples where this has worked in the past: Wonder Woman in BvS, Punisher in Daredevil, Black Widow in Iron Man 2, Hawkeye in Thor, and even Guardians of the Galaxy introduced the world to five lesser-known cosmic Marvel characters without any problem at all. However, this isn't the end-all, be-all for Cyborg, as he will get his own solo film in 2020: Justice League is just a taste.

That's not to say there won't be any insight into who Cyborg is in Justice League. According to Morton, the film will provide the audience with some of his backstory: "With Cyborg, and with Silas Stone, you're getting sort of the outside story. You'll get to know them vis-a-vis the death of Cyborg's mother. You'll get to know what Silas did in terms of reconstructing his son. You'll get to know the angst that's sort of created between Silas and Victor, his son. So I would imagine in the same sort of ways you're going to get to know the other characters.

"What I love about what they've done so far, to me--especially because the character is African American--is you get to, in a metaphorical sort of way, understand the difficulty of being 'the other.' Cyborg, unlike the other superheroes, has no alias to hide behind. He is who and what he is. So when he walks down the street, that's who you see, and people are obviously afraid of him."

Whether or not the audience is familiar with the character as they head into the theater doesn't matter, as it's the job of the filmmakers to sculpt, mold, and make the hero compelling as the movie progresses. From what it sounds like, there will be more than enough to make Cyborg just as interesting as the rest of the team.

Justice League will hit theaters on November 17--that is, as long as there are no delays with digitally removing Superman's mustache. T2: 3D comes to theaters on August 25.