Comic-Con 2020: Joss Whedon cancels his SDCC panel amid row, but sneaks his way into Nathan Fillion video
Joss Whedon has been out of the public eye for a while, but it appears that he can't stay out of the spotlight forever. Without much fanfare, he made an appearance on a panel with Nathan Fillion, despite having canceled his own SDCC panel in the wake of the controversy stirred up by Ray Fisher.
Fisher called Whedon out on abusive behavior on the sets of 'Justice League' early in July and Whedon has so far not issued a response. While Fisher continued to speak out against Whedon as best as he was able within the restrictions of what he was legally allowed to do, Whedon's only move was to cancel his Comic-Con appearance, which was quietly pulled from the Comic-Con@Home schedule, without any trace that the event was meant to happen at all.
The SDCC schedule contains a list of cancelled events, but 'A Zoom with Whedon' is conspicuously absent from the list. Whedon was meant to appear on Friday, at 5 pm PT/8 pm EST, for a Zoom conversation promoting his new HBO television series, 'The Nevers.' While there is no official confirmation as to why this panel was pulled, it is very likely that the controversy brought about by Fisher played a major part in it. Whedon has also been receiving major flak once again for his reshoots of 'Justice League,' a film that is being heavily panned the moment as the fans of the Snyder Cut hold the wildly popular 'Justice Con' celebrating the upcoming HBO Max film.
Whedon does make an appearance on a panel with Fillion, however. In 'A Conversation with Nathan Fillion,' Whedon is one of the many stars who show up to talk to Fillion about acting, filmmaking and the projects they worked on together. Whedon and Fillion most famously worked together on 'Firefly,' and the two reminisced about the show and about what it's like to work with Fillion. The pair also collaborated on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' and 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.' Also joining the panel were Alan Tudyk, Gina Torres, Molly Quinn, Seamus Dever, and Jon Huertas - though not all at once.
Like all Comic-Con@Home shows, the video was pre-recorded and released at a specific time. While Comic-Con had no compunctions removing Whedon from their line-up, removing Fillion's video would be another matter entirely. Whedon's appearance was brief but significant and he did not address the reports brought up by Fisher once throughout the panel.
In the meanwhile, Fisher's panel at Justice Con saw the actor double down on his statements, saying of his accusations, “We’re gonna get to the heart of everything. And if anything I said about that man is untrue, I invite him wholeheartedly to sue me for libel, to sue me for slander.”
You can watch Whedon's appearance on 'A Conversation with Nathan Fillion' here.