Justice League Reshoots Will "Lighten Up" The Movie, Actor Says

While it is not uncommon for big-budget movies to undergo several weeks of reshoots, those for the DC superhero team-up Justice League have been notable for a number of reasons. Firstly, original director Zack Snyder stepped aside following a family tragedy, with Joss Whedon (Avengers: Age of Ultron) taking his place. Then there was the controversy over Superman's mustache. Now one of the cast has revealed that the reshoots are intended to lighten the film's tone.

In a recent interview with IGN, Joe Morton, who plays Dr. Silas Stone in the movie, explained that "the film felt too dark" prior to the reshoots. In particular, changes had been made to Ray Fisher's character Victor Stone, AKA Cyborg.

"I know that with Ray, the young man who plays Victor, there were some adjustments that they made in terms of the tone of that character," Morton said. "I think what I heard was that there was a need from the studio to lighten up the film in a way, that the film felt too dark. I don't know what that meant in terms of how it actually got translated in terms of the reshoots but that's what I heard. That's what I thought some of the reshoots were about."

Even before Justice League started production, the filmmakers had spoken about their intention to make it "more hopeful and optimistic" than the critically reviled Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, Morton's comments suggest that the studio is looking to lighten the tone even further. There were similar rumors about last year's Suicide Squad when that also underwent reshoots.

It was reported last month that DC was spending $25 million on reshoots. The extensive schedule means that Superman actor Henry Cavill is working on both Justice League and Mission: Impossible 6 simultaneously, leaving the studio no option but to edit the mustache he is wearing for M:I6 out of his Justice League scenes.

Justice League also stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, and Ezra Miller as Flash. It hits theaters on November 17, 2017. An action-packed new Justice League trailer premiered at San Diego Comic-Con last month.