Movies

David Ayer's Original 'Suicide Squad' Cut Had A Stronger Connection To 'Justice League,' A "Rich And Dimensional" Joker

suicide squad ayer cut
By Hoai-Tran Bui/

Now that the long-debated Justice League Snyder Cut has been confirmed to debut on HBO Max next year, Suicide Squad director David Ayer hasn't held back in advocating for an "Ayer Cut" of his critically slammed 2016 comic book film. The filmmaker has been teasing juicy new details of his original cut of Suicide Squad, including a stronger connection to Justice League and a "rich and dimensional" characterization of Joker.

The success of the #SnyderCut campaign opened the floodgates for countless other disgruntled directors to get their original visions onto the big screen with the help of equally disgruntled fans. Leading the charge is David Ayer, whose 2016 Suicide Squad infamously went through pricy reshoots and behind-the-scenes tinkering from Warner Bros. But now, Ayer is working hard to build up hype for an "Ayer Cut."

The filmmaker shared more details about how original cut of Suicide Squad, hoping to drum up excitement among fans who are eager for a movie that had a bigger connection to Zack Snyder's Justice League and a more "dimensional" take on Jared Leto's polarizing Joker. Well, Ayer is here to meet those very specific demands. Ayer revealed on Twitter, where he has been very vocal about how "easy" it would be to throw together and "Ayer Cut" of Suicide Squad, that his original vision of Suicide Squad involved the New Gods, who were readying for an invasion of Earth in Snyder's cut of Justice League.

Ayer also addressed criticisms of Leto's Joker, whose extreme and edgy characterization was one of the most polarizing parts of his film. In his original "perfectly coherent" script, Ayer revealed, Joker was "rich and dimensional."

Ayer is doing a lot of tooting his own horn here, but likely hopes that the fans will take the reins to advocate for an Ayer cut, as they did with Zack Snyder's Justice League. Ayer emphasized in other tweets that he only wants his original cut of Suicide Squad released so fans can know how hard he worked on it.

"I don't mind if my cut is seen in 5 years. I simply want the best version of my work represented," Ayer wrote. "Zack [Snyder] deserves this wonderful wonderful opportunity he's been given by HBO Max and AT&T— It's all love."

Ayer would need permission from Warner Bros. first to rework his version, but it likely won't require the millions of dollars that HBO Max is pouring into completing the Snyder Cut. So it's extremely like that we could get the Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad, especially if fans are vocal enough. Or even if they're just a fraction as vocal as Ayer has been for it.

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