Joint Statement between ComicBook Debate &ForSnyderCut&The Suicide Squadcast

The DCEU Fandom is one of the most popular, diverse, and universal fandoms in the world. Fans who don’t speak the same language, hold the same beliefs, or live in the same timezones come together to discuss superheroes, comics, and films from DC. Above all, the fandom does not tolerate racism, sexism, or any form of discrimination. For this reason, it is important for fans to come together and condemn a hateful person from making a mockery of everything the fans stand for.

As many know, a major campaign for DC fans has been centered on the release of Zack Snyder’s Cut of Justice League. Early into the film’s release, fans asked WB to release this version of the film to audiences. It was at this point one fan, Roberto Mata, created his petition to Release the Snyder Cut on Change. The petition caught fire with the help of some of the most prominent DC Fans coming together to signal boost it as well as rewrite it to create a professional petition. To this date, the petition has over 177K signatures and serves as proof of a market for this cut.

Aside from extreme unprofessionalism shown to his collaborators like Fiona Zheng, myself, and more, going as far as to fabricate lies about fans trying to steal attention or his idea, his true acts were worse. After blocking and cutting off all the fans that made his petition successful, Roberto took his petition to a very racist level. Disgustingly racist, Islamophobic, sexist remarks were made; all enveloped with lies about us throughout. Through various “petition updates” that spend many paragraphs saying very hateful and Islamophobic rhetoric against Islam & all Muslims, Roberto also continually made sexist remarks against women, calling them inferior and treating them as such. A few quotes from his petition updates and social media show his hateful nature: he brushes the entire faith of Islam as “the most disgusting belief on earth” and a “majority of terrorists.” He also says  “Women are not as strong as men and they are more violent and abusive” and “Black people are criminals. Black lives matter and white supremacy are the same.” Simply put, he is racist, sexist, and Islamophobic.

As DC Fans, none of us condone this behavior and, in fact, see it as a direct insult to many of the fans. As mentioned above, the DCEU fandom is universal, and many are in the direct line of fire of Mata’s words. Adding to this, Zack Snyder and his films, something Mata is fond of, don’t ever condone this hatefulness. On the contrary, they speak on the need for inclusion. Zack Snyder’s Superman is the Ulttmate Immigrant. I wrote an article speaking on this, and Snyder agreed with the points. Islamophobia is something no Snyder film, especially his Superman films, condone. Snyder’s films also treat women by the highest standard. The treatment of Lois Lane, Martha Kent, Wonder Woman and more show that these characters have their own agency and are just as impactful, if not more, than the male characters. No bigotry, sexism, or racism is tolerated by any myself, the co-signers of this statement, Zack Snyder, or the DC Fandom.

Despite all of this, we would like to thank Roberto Mata for starting this petition. At this point, it is in the best interests of the DC Fandom to remove our collective support from it. Mata abuses the signatures on his petition with racist “petition updates” directly emailed to all 177K+ signers. I have personally called for his petition to be shut down by going to the link and reporting it for hate speech. By going to his petition, you can scroll down and see “Report a Policy Violation” under the comments. Here you will be able to report it as “Hate Speech.”

We would like to push the fact that Mata does not represent this fandom, the spirit of these film, or its creators. For fans wondering “what’s next?” There are still multiple outlets that continue to support the Snyder Cut campaign. Fiona Zheng’s ForSnyderCut.com continues to be one-stop shop for everything pertaining to the Snyder Cut efforts, and Fiona leads the flag on that front. Tim Yoko and Scott McClellan host The Suicide Squadcast, which has become the leading podcast for DC discussions and thoughts; they are also supporters of the Snyder Cut campaign. Finally, as Founder and Editor-in-Chief of ComicBook Debate, I lead the platform as it continues to be at the forefront of discussion on all comic book films, especially that of the DC. All 4 founders and multiple writers are followed by Zack on Vero, and Fiona is a contributor for us as well. All in all, the petition was a litmus test to prove support for the cut; the campaign for it has grown since then and fans can come to these platforms and more for DC discussions.

Thank you all for reading.

 

Signed:

Sheraz Farooqi- Founder & Editor-in-Chief of ComicBook Debate 

Fiona Zheng- Founder of ForSnyderCut

Tim Yoko- Co-Founder of The Suicide Squadcast

Scott McClellan- Co-Founder of The Suicide Squadcast