2016: the intermediate between Batman v Superman and Justice League witnessed a small group of anti-heroes, dubbed the Suicide Squad (how unironical) winning over the world of DCEU. But the movie, however eccentric and colorful in its own way, was not daring enough to become a legacy like Zack Snyder’s canonical work. Even though praised for its ambitious potential, the end result was somewhat underwhelming.
After 6 years of endless bickering and outcries, the audience again gets to take a peek behind the curtain as to what ended up on the cutting room’s floor instead of on the screens.
Suicide Squad‘s Ayer Cut Finds an Outlet After 6 Years
Following in the footsteps of the godfather Snyder himself, director David Ayer had spoken up about the creative differences that rose between the production house and the director’s vision. As a result, the version that constituted Suicide Squad in Ayer’s opinion was not what ended up being presented on the screen. The crowd, fueled by the outrage of Zack Snyder‘s exit and Joss Whedon’s butchering of the SnyderVerse’s grandeur, took up yet another slogan to chant at WB.
#ReleaseTheAyerCut movement has ever since been as much a staple of the DCEU x WB era as #ReleaseTheSnyderVerse has been. But while the latter gets its fair share of exposure and justice, Ayer’s vision remains very much in the dark — until now.
One of the Twitter admins of the Ayer Cut movement has recently had the honor of witnessing 37 seconds of extra footage that has never been aired before. Whether that makes up for the 6 years’ worth of wait is debatable although it does show a remarkable display of unchecked madness as Joker and his crew raid Arkham Asylum.
This does not in any way contribute to the unforgivable neglect that the Clown Prince of Crime was subjected to in Suicide Squad but somewhat soothes the hurt by leaving the door open for more of Jared Leto‘s unusual and controversial take on the Joker.
Will the Ayer Cut Find a Home in DCU After the Twitter Stunt?
The funny thing about Warner Bros. and the DC Films franchise is that their initial vision had delivered a short-lived era of peak cinema before that was ripped away by their very own management, without replacing it with something more profitable. Walter Hamada’s inadequacy as President not only strung the DCEU in limbo for years but the CBM franchise risked losing its major players for good (re: the Henry Cavill and Ray Fisher controversies).
But the ushering in of a new dawn at Warner Bros. Discovery and David Zaslav‘s dream of quality over quantity gives DC a chance to stand tall again. It also means that David Ayer’s recent stunt on Twitter could create unnecessary trouble for Zaslav while he is already operating in an all-out demolish-and-rebuild phase. And we are already becoming familiar with the CEO’s unapologetic slashing and disowning of projects that do not fit into his vision.
However, the recently released scene also shows the potential that DCEU had displayed before the tragic disregard for creative authority brought about the franchise’s downfall. If Zaslav does grant a nod to the Ayer Cut, his talk of quality over quantity will find some ground to stand on. Given how James Gunn now controls the DC Films narrative and how intricately he is connected to the Suicide Squad arc, it might be interesting to witness the comeback of Ayer’s vision and how Gunn plans to utilize the plot’s new angle in the aftermath of its release.
Suicide Squad is now streaming on HBO Max.
Source: The Ayer Cut
