We're sure David Ayer vowed in 2021 to stop talking about Suicide Squad, but the filmmaker isn't letting go of his 2016 DCEU movie. It's understandable in a lot of ways as Warner Bros. took his dark and gritty vision for Task Force X and twisted it into the neon-soaked, pop song-filled mess that earned 26% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Of course, even in the midst of negative reviews, it still earned $727 million worldwide!
More comments from the filmmaker from his Real Ones interview (via IndieWire) have now surfaced, and it sounds like Ayer once believed there was a chance he could spearhead the entire DC Universe.
"During a time, during 'Suicide Squad,' when the dailies were coming in, people were like 'Oh shit, maybe Ayer’s going to take over DC,'" the filmmaker recalls. "It’s 'Game of Thrones' in there. The palace politics were insane."
Ironically, another director who worked on this franchise, The Suicide Squad's James Gunn, is calling the shots at DC Studios these days and Ayer remains convinced his cut of Suicide Squad will be released...one day.
"It’s like Schrödinger’s Cut now. Is it more legendary to see it or more legendary to not see it? I talked to James Gunn, and look...he’s trying to figure that whole mess out. They wanna get some scores on the board first, you know? I have, I show people, but it’s tough because I wanna [frick]ing move on from it, I wanna heal from it."
It would be very strange for DC Studios to randomly drop the "Ayer Cut" of Suicide Squad into theaters - or even Max - in the midst of a new slate of DCU projects so we'd probably advise Ayer not to get his hopes up.
Justice League helmer Zack Snyder was largely in charge of the DCEU during its early days and Ayer actually alienated many fans when he took to the stage at the Suicide Squad world premiere and confidently declared, "F*** Marvel!" (despite clearly not thinking this version of the movie was any good).
Would you watch the Suicide Squad "Ayer Cut" if it ever saw the light of day?