Justice League’s Death Scene Restores The Perfect Terminator Reference

The Snyder Cut restored the planned Justice League death scene of a major character, one which featured a perfect reference to Terminator 2. In the theatrical, or Joss Whedon cut, of Justice League, Cyborg’s father Silas Stone was given the short shrift as a character, just kind of dropping out of the story partway through with no conclusive indication as to what happened to him. That’s just one of many unfortunate changes made to the film’s story after the departure of Zack Snyder.

Thankfully, the Snyder Cut restores Silas’ intended role in Justice League‘s plot, making him a much more important and well-developed character in the process. While it’s true that these improvements also came along with Silas’ death, he also got to reconcile with his son Victor along the way, and go out in an ultimately heroic manner, even if it at first appeared to be a mistaken self-sacrifice. Of course, it helped Silas is played by Joe Morton, one of the most dependable character actors in Hollywood.

It’s a very sad moment in Justice League when Cyborg is forced to watch as his father sacrifices his life for the good of the world. For fans of the Terminator franchise though, that scene, and the sub-plot surrounding it, are sure to get an approving nod of recognition.

Justice League: Silas Stone’s Death References Terminator 2

Long before playing Silas Stone in the Snyder Cut of Justice League, actor Joe Morton first became a recognizable face to the masses at large by playing Miles Dyson in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. A brilliant scientist and inventor, Dyson was the man most responsible for building the technology that would become Skynet. Sarah Connor initially tried to kill him to prevent that, but Dyson was convinced to instead assist her, John, and the T-800 in destroying his life’s work. While only in a portion of the film, Dyson was a very likable, courageous character, and ended up dying in his own lab, sacrificing himself to finish the job of destroying the place after the cops burst in and shot him.

In the Snyder Cut, Morton’s Silas Stone is also a brilliant scientist and inventor, having used the Mother Box’s alien powers to give his son Victor a new life as Cyborg after the horrific accident that destroyed his body. While Victor resents him for that for a while, the two thankfully do mend fences near the end. That end comes for Silas when Steppenwolf invades his lab, and it becomes clear he’ll escape with the Mother Box before the Justice League can intervene. Before this can happen, Silas quickly runs inside a chamber and uses a high energy laser to shoot the box, with the rays also killing him in the process. Steppenwolf indeed gets the box afterward, but the laser made it so hot that Batman can use his satellites to track the potentially apocalyptic object anywhere on Earth.

The similarities between the Miles Dyson and Silas Stone characters are quite significant, both being experts in cybernetics and working with technology beyond that previously known to mankind. Silas also sacrifices his life for the greater good, dies in his own lab, and to top it off, Morton’s last act in both cases is pressing a button. In Terminator 2, Miles triggers the detonator to initiate the explosives set up by Sarah and the T-800. In Justice League, Silas presses a button to activate the laser. Morton’s career has almost come full circle.

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