While Warner Bros. probably thought it was doing the right thing by allowing Zack Snyder to finish his version of “Justice League” and release it as an exclusive HBO Max project, the studio has clearly opened a can of worms that isn’t shutting anytime soon, if ever. Now, WB is being bombarded with #RestoreTheSnyderverse and yet more social media campaigns to restore director’s cuts of films such as David Ayer’s vision of “Suicide Squad.” And in a new interview with EW, Ayer talks about why he still supports an “Ayer Cut” of his superhero film and why he thinks WB should listen to fans once again for “Suicide Squad.”
For those not aware, after the release of “Batman v. Superman,” WB became worried that the terrible critical response and middling box office might be a sign that fans were hoping for something a bit more fun and colorful in their superhero films. So, this seemingly affected the final cut of David Ayer’s film, “Suicide Squad.” From reports and the director’s own admission, WB looked at Ayer’s cut of the film and decided to bring in a trailer-cutting company to do a final edit on “Suicide Squad.” What was then released to fans is a pop music-filled, neon-colored, quippy mess that made a lot of money but got some of the worst reviews of all the DC films.
Now, with the seemingly successful “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” David Ayer thinks WB could please the fans by allowing him to release his original version of the film, which he admits is a darker drama than what was released in theaters. And no, he doesn’t think it’ll take away from James Gunn’s upcoming reboot-quel, “The Suicide Squad.”
“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 and having the courage to explore that.”
He added, “I get it, it’s a business. 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.”
Of course, it doesn’t appear that WB is going to give Ayer the power to release his version of the film. CEO Ann Sarnoff quashed any hope of the Ayer Cut of “Suicide Squad” coming to HBO Max by simply saying, “We won’t be developing David Ayer’s cut.” But hey, as the Snyder Cut fans will say time after time, WB wasn’t pretty deadset on not releasing “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” but the studio eventually relented. So, who knows?