Would stop the JLA film (if GL appears in one of them) looking like a meeting of the Aryan Brotherhood.
Remember, Jason Momoa is playing Aquaman, and Ray Fisher will be appearing as Cyborg in
Batman v Superman and presumably the
Justice League and
Cyborg films. So the film JL already has some ethnic diversity built in.
Well, Momoa may be mixed-race, but he isn't necessarily perceived as such. Remember, he was cast as Conan, and looked the part.
As for Cyborg, Edward Douglas of ComingSoon.net has written about that:
Edward Douglas said:
I've lived in New York City for decades and I know and have talked to more than a few black and Latino comic book fans in comic shops and on the subway in that time, and I don't think any of them have ever said, "Man, I wish they'd give Cyborg his own movie!" No, it's more than likely that long-time comic readers see Black Panther and Luke Cage and in some ways, The Falcon, as the black superheroes that deserve their own movies or shows. Warner Bros. announcing a movie starring Cyborg is not going to push Marvel to move any faster on a Black Panther movie than they already have been. Trust me on this. Maybe a younger generation has embraced Cyborg from the Teen Titans cartoon that I don't know about, but it still seems like an odd choice. (The same can be said for Ms. Marvel who isn't nearly as well known as Wonder Woman among the general populace.)
I'm not even going to comment too much on the 2020 plan for a new Green Lantern movie, presumably a reboot with whichever poor actor whose agent doesn't remember how starring in the previous Green Lantern movie hurt Ryan Reynolds' career. If nine years is the statute of limitations on trying to revive a character on the big screen for new audiences after a bad movie, then we're eight years behind on a new Steel movie. (At this point, we don't even know if the Green Lantern in question is Hal Jordan or John Stewart, who would in fact appeal to an urban audience, probably more than Cyborg.)
ComingSoon.net|The Battle Cry: Is Warner Bros.' New DC Line-Up a Good Thing?
Now, as a German-born living in Germany never even having been in the U.S. before, I would not dare presume to know whether there was any truth to that, but it does sound plausible, in that Cyborg isn't anywhere near being an icon. DC, even in the New 52, has yet to try the character in a regular solo title, and that is far less risky financially than a movie. John Stewart, on the other hand, was the Green Lantern a whole generation grew up with on the JL cartoon, and even before and after that he's been a popular character not just with African-Americans, but with other demographics as well (including this white German fanboy). Cyborg works best as a team member (preferredly member of the Titans).
Let's face it, Cyborg being included in the movie line-up has more to do with Geoff Johns turning him into his Mary Sue than with the actual appeal of the character.
