Although the 2016 film, Suicide Squad, appears destined for a negative legacy following director David Ayer's seeming abandonment of the 'Ayer Cut' release, the embattled filmmaker still holds one more desire regarding his work.
Suicide Squad was met with widespread criticism, with both critics and fans expressing dissatisfaction with the movie. Ayer revealed that the version presented to audiences wasn't his, alleging that Warner Bros had marred his vision for Suicide Squad, particularly Jared Leto's controversial portrayal of the Joker.
Since this disclosure, there has been a fervent campaign by some fans for the release of an Ayer cut of Suicide Squad, akin to the Snyder cut of Justice League that was eventually released following similar fan pressure. Ayer had been a vocal advocate for the movement until recently when he seemingly relinquished hope for the release of the Ayer cut of Suicide Squad, as indicated in a social media post. Nevertheless, Ayer has disclosed that he holds one final wish for the project in a recent interview with Variety. He stated, “I would love a ‘last rites’ screening. 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 continues to stand by his version of Suicide Squad.
Ayer also conveyed how the notoriety of Suicide Squad still impacts him, despite the fact that the disparaged version of the movie was not entirely his own. “Every time a new movie comes out in that space it starts up again,” the filmmaker revealed, discussing the aftermath. “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 debacle surrounding the film as the most challenging part of his career, a situation made ironic by Shia LaBeouf warning Ayer against directing Suicide Squad after they worked together on a previous project.
At present, it seems that even the most dedicated fans of the director have come to terms with the likelihood that an Ayer cut would not significantly improve Suicide Squad, especially considering the much more favorably received and reviewed rendition by current DC Studios head, James Gunn, in 2021's The Suicide Squad, which did justice to the team in live action and spawned a spinoff TV series. Even Ayer appears to acknowledge this, and his request for a funeral screening appears to be more about finding closure and possibly garnering validation for the superiority of his version.
While the sentiment resonates with many creatives and even some fans, the conclusion of the DCEU era following the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in December has essentially relegated the potential re-release to one of the many aspects of the DCEU that fans might miss, now that it's in the past. As for Ayer, he has demonstrated his ability to move on to better, if not larger, endeavors through his more recent work.
Suicide Squad (2016) is currently available for streaming on Max.
Source: Variety