The campaign for the release of the Snyder Cut of Justice League was clearly a landmark victory for fans of the franchise, after it finally got the green light for an official premiere on HBO Max. Bolstered by the win, the DCEU loyal have now set their sights on the Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad.
And as it turns out, by David Ayer’s own admission, his cut of the film already exists. The #ReleaseTheAyerCut fan campaign seems to be making some serious headway and during a recent Q&A, Ayer said that the decision to screen it rests solely on the shoulders of AT&T and HBO Max.
Cut definitely exists – you’ll need to ask @ATT and @hbomax to let it see the sunlight 🙌🏻 https://t.co/bfh3H0iX3d
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) July 1, 2020
Ayer has made it very clearly known that the version of Suicide Squad that was released in theatres was not as he intended. Even going so far as to say that it wouldn’t require too much of an additional budget to be made ready for release. At least, not as much as the revised Justice League cut reportedly cost.
Ayer compared the tone of his unrealized film to that of 2019’s Joker, saying that his version was eventually made less dark after the disappointing reception of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. The filmmaker has even been releasing snippets of unused sequences on social media, probably in an attempt to get his shot at getting back into the editing room and redeeming his baby.
The Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad might not radically change the final product, but we might at least get to see more of Leto’s Joker in action. Even if the Ayer Cut does end up on HBO Max though, it seems more likely that James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad will still be the film that paves the way forward for the franchise in the DCEU.