David Ayer's Hopes for a Suicide Squad Director's Cut are Crushed
Director David Ayer's hopes for a Suicide Squad Director's Cut have been dashed, leaving fans disappointed The highly anticipated Ayer Cut appears to be officially dead, crushing any chances of a revamped version of the film
The Ayer Cut of DC's Suicide Squad has been officially abandoned. After eight years of trying to release his version of the film as a director's cut, the filmmaker has given up on DC entirely. Despite the #ReleaseTheAyerCut movement not gaining as much momentum as Snyder's, Ayer was optimistic as recently as December.
Ayer told Deadline, "You know, there are a lot of people that are invested in certain narratives that don't want it to see the light of day. So there's an immense political headwind against it because if that cut were made public, the cowardliness and the whole just general shittiness of how the film's been treated, and how the actors have had this great work that they'd done taken away...That narrative blows up once people see the movie."
That level of optimism officially died as Ayer went public Wednesday stating that he's "done with DC."
The SnyderCut movement was quite a spectacle, with passionate fans, Twitter bot accounts, and harassment of executives driving online attention. The film eventually landed on HBO Max, but didn't break any records. Ayer has made similar attempts with his much-criticized, yet Oscar-winning (Best Makeup and Hairstyling) Suicide Squad from 2016. ComicBook published now-deleted Tweets in which Ayer compared the treatment of his film to being shot "JFK style," referencing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Asked about the possibility of Ayer returning under the new DC Studios leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran, the director firmly stated that he was moving on from the situation.
"No chance. It's over. It's quite unfortunate," he commented. "You'll feel better after letting it out. I believe it's necessary for healing."
Ayer's Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice were both poorly received DCEU entries, with abysmal Rotten Tomatoes scores. In hindsight, these two films marked the beginning of DC's then-planned release schedule falling apart.
The director expressed his well wishes for Gunn and Safran's future success, but also indicated that he is content to sit out.
Editor's P/S
As a Gen Z fan, I'm disappointed that David Ayer's hopes for a Suicide Squad Director's Cut have been crushed. I believe that Ayer's vision for the film was unique and interesting, and I would have loved to see his original cut. I think it's a shame that the studio didn't give him the chance to release his version of the film.
I also understand Ayer's frustration with the way his film was treated. It's clear that he put a lot of effort into making Suicide Squad, and it's disappointing that it didn't receive the critical acclaim that he was hoping for. I think it's important for studios to listen to their directors and give them the creative freedom they need to make their films.
