Though the CEO for WarnerMedia Studios firmly rejected that his version of Suicide Squad would ever see the light of day, director David Ayer is still publicly hoping that the release of the ‘Snyder Cut’ will set off a trend that will allow different visions of the same film to be accessible for audiences. He said as much when he spoke to Entertainment Weekly recently.
“I think the studios see now that there can be canon, there can be non-canon, the fans just want to touch it,” Ayer said. “They love the characters, they just want to spend more time with it. And people are way more sophisticated about how movies are made and want to be participants in the journey. There’s room for different things, different versions, different assets being shared with the audience. I think it just helps strengthen the community. But absolute credit to Warner Bros. for supporting Zack [Snyder] and having the courage to explore that.”
Ayer’s Suicide Squad came out in 2016, a year before Justice League made it to theaters. He’s been pretty open since then that he’s not happy with the movie that was released for the public. EW also notes that the tepid reception to the dark, brooding tone of another DC film helmed by Zack Snyder, 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, led to expensive last-minute re-shoots to give Suicide Squad a lighter tone. As Ayer tells it, that wrecked what could’ve been.
“I get it, it’s a business,” Ayer continued. “It’s frustrating because I made a really heartfelt drama and it got ripped to pieces and they tried to turn it into Deadpool, which it just wasn’t supposed to be. And then you take the hit, you’re the captain of the ship, my name was on it. [Laughs] Even though it didn’t represent what I actually made, I would take all the bullets and be a good soldier. I made an amazing movie. It’s an amazing movie, it just scared the shit out of the executives.”
Cue a sequel handled by a new director (James Gunn). His go at it, The Suicide Squad, comes out August 6.
