SUICIDE SQUAD Director David Ayer Shares Image Representing His "Original Intent" For Jared Leto's Joker

SUICIDE SQUAD Director David Ayer Shares Image Representing His "Original Intent" For Jared Leto's Joker

Suicide Squad director David Ayer continues to give his followers an idea of what his initial take on the movie would have looked like, and has now shared his "original intent" for the Joker...

By MarkCassidy - Aug 11, 2023 09:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Suicide Squad

2016's Suicide Squad actually did pretty well at the box office, but it remains one of the most negatively-reviewed movies in the DCEU. There are glimmers of a much better film in there, though, and director David Ayer maintains that his original vision for Task Force X would have been very different before the studio forced his hand.

An aspect of the movie that arguably comes in for the most backlash is Jared Leto's interpretation of the Joker, particularly the character's appearance, and his relationship with Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).

We know that Ayer filmed an alternate ending, which would have given the iconic Batman villain a lot more screen time and completely changed his dynamic with Harley, who was going to sever ties with the madman after coming to realize how toxic their relationship really was.

Now, Ayer has shared what appears to be some previously-unseen concept art representing his "original intent" for the Joker.

This take on the character looks quite similar to the one we saw in the movie, but there are a few differences - most notably, the lack of that "damaged" head tattoo. We're not exactly sure what the explosion of skulls and purple mist is supposed to signify, but then he is a fairly flamboyant chap, that Joker fella!

Ayer recently revealed that he has spoken to James Gunn about potentially releasing the "Ayer Cut" of Suicide Squad down the line, so we may eventually get to see what the director originally had in store for these characters.

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Ironnick
Ironnick - 8/11/2023, 9:08 AM
Why did you say the movie was a notorious bomb, when the movie made close to $800 million worldwide? I don’t think the movie’s good either, but it definitely wasn’t a bomb when it came out in 2016.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 8/11/2023, 9:13 AM
@Ironnick - Actually yeah, I totally forgot that it did pretty well at the box office... I'll edit that.
Ironnick
Ironnick - 8/11/2023, 9:34 AM
@MarkCassidy - Haha, i feel that. Looking back on it 7 years removed, I’m honestly surprised the movie did as well as it did.
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 8/11/2023, 10:06 AM
@Ironnick -


It was riding the CBM wave the MCU and Nolan films created .🥲
Goldboink
Goldboink - 8/11/2023, 10:34 AM
@Ironnick -
Because he has nothing better going on and his involvement with the Snydervers is a black mark that's preventing him from getting another job as a director. He's another medioctite lined up at the trough
rkshuttleworth
rkshuttleworth - 8/11/2023, 11:43 AM
@MarkCassidy - Josh Wilding's takes are definitely enough without you other guys adding to the b.s. lol
krayzeman
krayzeman - 8/11/2023, 2:28 PM
@rkshuttleworth - totally agree. i wish you guys would just report the news without having to put your opinions in the headline or article. I know yall want to generate traffice but if you put in the headline for clickbait can you at least keep your opinions out of the articles and leave that for the comment section??
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 8/11/2023, 9:09 AM
Jesus this guy can't move on.
jst5
jst5 - 8/11/2023, 9:10 AM
You can make the Joker look however you wanted...Jared Leto would have still sucked the life out of it.Dude is the definition of cheeseball.
DanFlashesShirt
DanFlashesShirt - 8/11/2023, 9:12 AM
This guy needs to F off. He can cry as much as he wants about how ‘his version’ was much better, but most people disliked the character designs/dialogue/story.

His version of Joker would very much still be a Dbag with cringey tattoos, he’s sharing this random piece of concept art tocdrim up interest because he now knows how much people hated the stupid ‘damaged’ tattoos…
connorblaze
connorblaze - 8/11/2023, 9:16 AM
This [frick]ing guy… he and Snyder just come across really pathetic. Accept you made a shit film, own it, and move on to do better work. They’re just making their failure more glaring by whinging about how it’s everyone else’s fault.

There was no good movie buried in Suicide Squad, BVS or Justice League. Art is subjective but let’s be real, they’re just shit movies.

If this guy thinks that the tattoos and grills were the problem with his Joker, there’s no cut that will make his film good. It wasn’t the tats, it was the edgelord ‘gangsta marilyn manson’ approach, and Jared Leto’s [frick]ing attrocious performance that were bad.

Guy just can’t accept his turn at one of pop culture’s greatest characters is the absolute worst.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/11/2023, 9:19 AM
This shit is ASS too
Usernametaken
Usernametaken - 8/11/2023, 9:21 AM
That looks even worse to be honest.
santoanderson
santoanderson - 8/11/2023, 9:22 AM
I’m still not entirely sure who Ayer’s Joker is/was supposed to be. He’s a gangster/nightclub owner who splits his time between the tattoo parlor and the gym? It’s like a member of the Jersey Shore cast with green hair.

It’s such a weird take on the character.
HAILHYDRA
HAILHYDRA - 8/11/2023, 9:28 AM
Did he think we’d see this and think “oh now I get it!” This looks pretty much like what we got in the movie except somehow worse.
HulkisHoly
HulkisHoly - 8/11/2023, 9:41 AM
I understand the concept of focusing on Joker’s mob history, which precedes his “anarchy” approach made popular in the dark knight. Joker in the comics was always a gangster before he was a “terrorist” in the comics. His mobster background is a key part of who he was before he became Joker, traditionally. So, for the filmmakers to ask the question “what does a monster/ gangster look like in 2016” is a fair question when it came to adapting the Joker. The problem is that “grills” were not made clear that they were from Batman knocking out his teeth. And the tattoos themselves were cheesy and on the nose. The bling ear rings was also distracting. The clothes were fine and I think could stay. The no eyebrows thing wasn’t the worst idea but I’m not sure it helped.

Overall, they just didn’t do the modern gangster approach well and should have focused more on Joker’s unpredictable side. If they had to do tattoos, they should have been more twisted and self inflicted then cheesy slogans and hot topic logos.

Jared Leto had a good crazy laugh…in other films. Not sure why they signed off on the weird penguin mating call version he went with in the film either.
DarthAlgar
DarthAlgar - 8/11/2023, 9:48 AM
This guy can't let it go and move on. If anyone needs "DAMAGED" tattooed on their head it's him.

marvel72
marvel72 - 8/11/2023, 9:58 AM
Release it and I'll watch it but if it never happens, I won't lose sleep.
IronGenesis
IronGenesis - 8/11/2023, 10:27 AM
It’s time to release the AyerCut and put this puppy to bed.
harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 8/11/2023, 10:29 AM
Leto had method and swag.
Spidey91
Spidey91 - 8/11/2023, 10:35 AM
The Joker is not a serial killer David.
SheepishOne
SheepishOne - 8/11/2023, 10:40 AM
At this point, even if the "Ayer Cut" is better than the theatrical release, people are going to roast it because they're tired of hearing about it. Drawing this much attention to it and basically begging for his cut to be shown to people is only going to encourage people to go through it with a fine tuned comb, instead of just kicking back and watching it.

Honestly, I'm sure Ayer's cut is better. But I doubt it's some kind of masterpiece or even different enough to warrant this much whining (not to mention there's already been a sequel and an outright reboot of DC is pending, so who really cares). And if it's ever released, people are going to tear into it, because it's probably going to be the same movie with extended/added Joker/Harley sequences, some CGI airbrushing the tattoos away, and maybe a new soundtrack.

You could have maybe interested me if the "director's cut" had been released on Blu ray however many years ago. But it's time to move on. At least Zack Snyder had the excuse that he never finished JL, and Joss Wheaton stepped in and reshot half of it.
philinterrupted
philinterrupted - 8/11/2023, 10:45 AM
Please release the Ayer cut, for the love of god. I don’t want to hear about it anymore.
I just want people to see it so we can all confirm once and for all that just like the theatrical cut, it’s garbage.

Plus, didn’t this Fukcer say at one point he was going to stop talking about it.

God damn it.
CaptainCheese
CaptainCheese - 8/11/2023, 11:11 AM
Forget the past. Let it die.
ProfessorWhy
ProfessorWhy - 8/11/2023, 11:55 AM
Nothing screams JOKER like skulls and purple smoke
philinterrupted
philinterrupted - 8/11/2023, 2:07 PM
@ProfessorWhy - it crazy to think the mastermind behind this would also choose put a tattoo of the word damaged across jokers forehead…
MahN166A
MahN166A - 8/11/2023, 12:08 PM
At this point, let him release the Ayer Cut. So we can shit on that too so he can shut the [frick] up.
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 8/11/2023, 12:09 PM
Original intent? To make Leto look more like an 8 year olds trapper keeper cover?
ThorArms
ThorArms - 8/11/2023, 2:38 PM
Discovery just needs to release this quietly on MAX and let it die. That way we can stop hearing about it. There is no way it is much better than what we got
Drace24
Drace24 - 8/11/2023, 4:25 PM
Stop trying to make Jared Leto happen! It's not going to happen!
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