Love for Brendan Fraser is pouring in for his portrayal of a 600-pound man looking to reconnect with his daughter in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. After garnering much acclaim at the Venice Film Festival, the movie opened to further acclaim and Oscar buzz at Toronto International Film Festival where Fraser was honored for his performance with a TIFF Tribute Award. The actor also played a vital part in the now canceled Leslie Grace-led Batgirl, and in a recent chat with Variety, he deemed DC’s move “disappointing.”

The actor was set to portray super villain Firefly in HBO Max’s now canceled feature. Firefly first debuted in the comics as a criminal who used lighting effects to commit robberies, however, he was later reimagined as a sociopathic pyromaniac. Fraser had revealed in a previous interview that the character would have drawn some sympathy from the Batgirl fans. Speaking of the cancelation he said, “The fans really wanted to see this film made. Leslie Grace is a dynamo.”

The HBO Max feature was near completion in post-production when Warner Bros decided to axe it in August. The unprecedented move wasn’t taken lightly by the fandom. The cancelation pushed many industry veterans to rethink the movie-making business and talent relations. It almost pushed DC head Walter Hamada to quit, however he is reportedly staying back till Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam debuts in theatres. CEO David Zaslav’s reasoning stood that the studio was not going to put a movie out unless “we believe in it.” Addressing the cancellation, Fraser said, “The movie was shot and conceived for a smaller screen,” adding, "In this age that we’ve come out of now between streaming service versus theatrical release, it wound up being the canary in the coal mine." Though disappointed Fraser speaks of lessons learned, “What did we learn from this? Work with trusted filmmakers, like Darren.”

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Image via HBO Max

RELATED: Brendan Fraser Brought to Tears by Standing Ovation for ‘The Whale’

Ever since Zaslav’s regime has come into effect since the merging of Warner Bros and Discovery, the status of many projects have been in flux with rampant cancelations and the axing of various scripted projects. Furthermore, the streaming service HBO Max is to be merged with Discovery+, a reality TV-focused platform.

Fraser will be seen in The Whale alongside Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, and Ty Simpkins when the feature hits theaters on December 9. Meanwhile, you can check out the synopsis and Fraser’s reaction to the standing ovation below:

A reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.