Despite recently taking to social media to claim he's moved on from Suicide Squad, filmmaker David Ayer hasn't been able to escape questions about the 2016 DCEU movie while promoting his new action flick, The Beekeeper.
It's no secret that, concerned by the negative backlash aimed at Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros. decided to overhaul Suicide Squad. Various edits were made to soften the movie's rough edges, including dialling back the abusiveness of The Joker and Harley Quinn's relationship and adding lots of pop songs.
The Hollywood Reporter put it to Ayer that he promoted Suicide Squad with a broken heart and wondered whether he got any credit for that from Warner Bros.
"Absolutely not, no. And look, it was a while ago. The studio has gone through several iterations of leadership, and nobody involved ever had any malice or ill will or anything. Everyone just wanted the same result, which was a great commercial movie. There was just a big delta on what that was. The thing that’s been difficult for me is that I made a great film. I made a great film. The people who have seen my cut have pretty much unanimously said that it’s one of the best comic book movies ever made."
"If someone who’s seen the cut wants to dispute that, then they can come talk to me. I was pilloried, pilloried, in the media again and again over it, and then pilloried again and again in the press launch of subsequent IPs, but I kept my mouth shut for years. I learned that nature abhors a vacuum, and if you don’t tell your story, then somebody else will. It’s incredibly unjust, and I can’t point to a similar situation, ever. It’s mind blowing. It’s a scar, it’s a wound and it’s taken a lot out of me. It also took a lot of equity out of my career, unfairly."
Ayer clearly has a lot of hard feelings about what became of his version of Suicide Squad; you'd have never guessed it at the time, though, especially when he was gleefully declaring "F*** Marvel!" at the world premiere. That sounds like someone who believes they have a hit on their hands.
Regardless, when the director was asked what's changed with his stance on Suicide Squad (it was only a few short months ago he shared his belief that DC Studios would release the "Ayer Cut"), he reveals they've gone quiet on him.
"Look, I can take the hint. It’s been radio silent, and I’m done pushing a rock uphill," Ayer tells the trade. "I love directing, I love my job, I love working with actors. There are great places and great partners out there to work with, and I just want to focus on being a great partner and making some good movies."
Would you still like to see Ayer's version of Suicide Squad or is it time to move on with the DCU reboot on the horizon?