Is Warner Bros. and DC ever going to release Ayer Cut?
The #AyerCut is a slightly smaller movement similar to the #SnyderCut trend that went viral a few years ago and that ultimately led to Zack Snyder’s Justice League that was released earlier this year. According to several sources, including Leto, the #AyerCut is a significantly different movie from what audiences saw back in 2016 when the original Suicide Squad first premiered. With streaming now much more prevalent than ever before, Leto argued in an interview with Variety that it just makes sense for Warner Bros. and DC to release Ayer Cut. He goes as far as to question why the respective studios wouldn’t do it, saying that it is “what streaming’s for.” Ayer later seconded Leto’s statement in a later tweet, agreeing that the #AyerCut is “exactly what streaming is for.”
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) November 19, 2021 Both Ayer and Leto have been one of the biggest supporters of the #AyerCut. Coincidentally, the two have been the subject of the most criticism as well. Leto’s take on Joker, in particular, was widely panned by critics and audiences alike. However, Leto has defended himself several times, saying that there’s so much more content including his Joker “that’s not in the film.” Now, whether or not #AyerCut actually exists isn’t the question, but rather, if it did exist, should Warner Bros. and DC bother? We’ve seen how fan support can move industry giants to do what they want. Case in point, the aforementioned example of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. After years of asking for it, audiences finally got a four-hour version of Justice League that was more in line with what Snyder wanted to see out of 2017’s Justice League, with the movie being ultimately handed over to Joss Whedon while Snyder grieved the death of his daughter. Ayer previously spoke out about how his cut does indeed exist, which was soon followed by a never-before-seen photo of Will Smith’s Deadshot and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn sharing a kiss. Even if we saw James Gunn’s critically beloved take on Task Force X earlier this year, David Ayer’s film still has one massive advantage over the reboot - it made nearly $750 million at the global box office against a $175 million budget. In comparison, 2021’s The Suicide Squad bombed at the global box office with less than $170 million. To date, David Ayer’s Suicide Squad remains the fourth-highest-grossing DCEU film, surpassed only by 2017’s Wonder Woman, 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and 2018’s Aquaman. Having said that, it remains to be seen if the #AyerCut is going to happen or not. These kinds of decisions are out of most people’s hands, including Leto’s and Ayer’s. In the meantime, fans of Suicide Squad can look forward to watching John Cena star in his own TV show as the titular lead, Peacemaker, which is set to air in January 2022.
