Summary
While 2016’sSuicide Squadseems destined to be remembered negatively after director David Ayer seemingly gave up on the ‘Ayer Cut’ release, the embattled filmmaker has one more wish concerning his work.
Suicide Squadwas received in an overwhelmingly negative light, with critics and fans expressing dissatisfaction with the film overall. Director Ayer would reveal that the film put out to audiences wasn’t his, alleging thatWarner Bros had ruined his vision forSuicide Squad, especially Jared Leto’s now-infamous take on the Joker.
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Since that revelation, there has been a strong push by some fans for an Ayer cut ofSuicide Squadto be released similar to the Snyder cut ofJustice Leaguethat was released after comparable fan pressure. Ayer himself was a big supporter of the movement until recently when the directorseemingly gave up on the Ayer cut ofSuicide Squadbeing released via a post on social media. While this is still the case, Ayer has revealed that he has one last wish for the project via a recent interview withVariety. “I would love a ‘last rites’ screening,” Ayer revealed. “A funeral screening, you know, even just bringing the cast and crew together to show them what they actually made. That would be fair for everyone.” Ayer continued to defend his version ofSuicide Squad.
I made a great movie. I made an amazing film. I’ll go on record. Anyone wants to dispute that: Come look me in the eye. To have something I put so much love and so much heart into get taken away, reengineered… you know that Eric Andre meme where he shoots the guy and says, ‘Why’d you do that?’ That’s been like ‘Suicide Squad.’ ‘Why’d you do that?’ I didn’t.
Ayer also revealed howSuicide Squad’s infamy still affects him despite the derided version of the movie not being his own. “Every time a new movie comes out in that space it starts up again,” the filmmaker revealed, discussing the fallout. “I get attacked for something that I didn’t do. It’s pretty unjust, and at the end of the day, at this point, I get it: it’s corporate America. It’s corporate IP. You know these are multi-billion dollar companies, but I think ripping the guts out of a filmmaker like that is pretty unfair.” Ayer also described the fiasco surrounding the film as the most difficult part of his career, a state of affairs made ironic byShia LaBeouf warning Ayer against directingSuicide Squadafter they worked together on a prior project.
At this point, all but the most diehard fans of the director have come to accept thatan Ayer cut probably wouldn’t improveSuicide Squadmuch, especially in light of the much better received and reviewed attempt from current DC Studios boss James Gunn in 2021’sThe Suicide Squad,which did justice to the team in live action and spawned a spinoff TV series. Even Ayer seems to see this, and his request for a funeral screening is seemingly more about closure and maybe some potential validation of the superiority of his cut.
While the sentiment is one that many creatives and even some fans can empathize with, the DCEU era’s closure following the release ofAquaman and the Lost Kingdomin December has effectively consigned the potential re-release to one of manythings that DC fans might miss about the DCEUnow that it’s in the past. As for Ayer, he’s already shown that he can move on to better, if not bigger, things with his more recent work.
Suicide Squad (2016)is currently available for streaming on Max.
Suicide Squad
A secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse.
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