Suicide Squad: WB Has No Reasons to Not Release David Ayer's Director's Cut

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James Gunn's The Suicide Squad may have just landed theaters and on HBO Max to rave reviews, but the release has only amplified calls for the release of David Ayer's director's cut of Suicide Squad. Ayer and Gunn have been supportive of each other, but audiences seem to be as curious as ever about the vision Ayer originally had for Task Force X, especially after seeing how drastically different Zack Snyder's Justice League was compared to the 2017 Joss Whedon version.

2016 was a tumultuous year for Warner Bros.' DC movies. After the critical dogpile on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, major changes were ordered for Suicide Squad, taking it largely out of Ayer's hands and reshaping to add more needle drops and jokes, as well as drastically shifting a number of character moments. Justice League started shooting around the same time and had also seen some hasty rewrites ordered in reaction to Batman v Superman.

Ironically, 2016 also saw the release of Batman v Superman's "Ultimate Edition," which was Zack Snyder's director's cut, which is almost unanimously agreed upon as the superior version of the film. Now in 2021, we know Snyder's director's cut of  Justice League was also far superior to the studio-mandated rewrites and reshoots, so is the same also true for Ayer's cut of Suicide Squad? Much of the past 5 years of the DCEU has been an attempt to course correct from the negative reception of the first few movies in the franchise, but maybe simply releasing the final missing director's cut from the early DCEU films will be all that's needed to wash the bad taste out of audience's mouths.

David Ayer's Suicide Squad Doesn't Conflict With James Gunn's Suicide Squad

The primary concern with releasing David Ayer's Suicide Squad is, understandably, the current proximity to James Gunn's The Suicide Squad. While it would certainly make sense for Warner Bros. to want to avoid sending mixed signals or releasing them too close together, it's also important to point out Gunn's movie isn't at odds with the original Suicide Squad in any way, and in fact, Gunn's movie works perfectly well as a sequel and honors the original's role as the de-facto origin story of Task Force X. Gunn and much of his cast are even supportive of the idea of releasing the Ayer Cut. The Suicide Squad's development (before Gunn's involvement) originated as a direct sequel, Idris Elba was originally rumored to replace Will Smith's Deadshot, and Warner Bros. chairman Toby Emmerich even referred to the movie as "Suicide Squad 2" at CinemaCon in 2019.

The Suicide Squad doesn't pick up and continue any specific plot threads from Suicide Squad 2016 (not that there were any clear sequel hooks in the movie) and is light on direct callbacks to the first movie, but it's clearly a continuation of the universe built by Ayer. Numerous cast members reprise their roles and characters tacitly acknowledge a history and affinity for one another, particularly Harley Quinn and Rick Flag, who have developed a bit of a friendship. The movie makes it clear Task Force X has been in operation for a while now, allowing the first movie's foundation for the squad's origin to stand uncontested.

While Gunn's approach could certainly be considered a soft reboot, it's also very much the nature of the Suicide Squad for team members to be regularly killed off and replaced by new recruits, meaning if Gunn does a sequel to his own movie, he could (and arguably should) wipe the slate mostly clean once again. There are no retcons of Ayer's Suicide Squad characters, and the ones that are used are consistent with their original characterization and not depicted in a way that diminishes their first appearances in Ayer's movie.

If Warner Bros.' objective was to wipe Ayer's movie out of canon, they easily could have done so. The approach taken by Gunn actually solidifies Ayer's movie as a fixture in DCEU canon, particularly with the inclusion of Joel Kinneman's Rick Flag, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, and Viola Davis' Amanda Waller.

David Ayer's Suicide Squad Is Virtually Release Ready

With Zack Snyder's Justice League, much of the debate over its release revolved around whether or not it even existed and how much it would cost to finish it, but that's not a problem with David Ayer's Diretor's Cut of Suicide Squad. Zack Snyder's Justice League ultimately cost around $70 million to complete, but Ayer's Suicide Squad is virtually ready to release. The reshoot process for Suicide Squad was much more clearly documented in the press as it happened, and the fact that there were dueling cuts up until release is well known.

If there's minimal or no cost to releasing it, there's high curiosity and demand from fans, and the brand value is high now thanks to the buzz surrounding Gunn's cut, not to mention the box office and home media success of the studio cut of 2016's Suicide Squad, there's no reason for Warner Bros. to keep it locked away. Releasing director's cuts isn't typically a controversial thing, and is generally seen as a smart move to capitalize on moments such as now, so it's odd for WB to use a different playbook in a situation where the release makes a lot of sense.

Releasing Ayer's Cut Of Suicide Squad Would Let The DCEU Finally Move Forward

It's probably clear by now that the campaign to "Restore the Snyderverse" isn't exactly going do disappear, so while WB may want to avoid encouraging that movement, the cries likely aren't going to quiet down either way. In fact, holding out on releasing Ayer's director's cut of Suicide Squad only gives fans one more thing to campaign for. In many ways, the director's cut of Suicide Squad would actually effectively finally allow fans to move forward.

While many reports initially indicated Warner Bros.' intention was to move away from Zack Snyder's influence, many of the creative decisions for upcoming DC films are embracing Snyder's contribution. None of Snyder's heroes have been recast yet, in fact, Affleck is now returning as Batman after walking away from the role. Sasha Calle's Supergirl embraces the iconography of Cavill's Superman, and JK Simmons'Commissioner Gordon may return for the Batgirl movie. It may not be following the same story Snyder intended to tell, but it does embrace the DCEU foundation established in the Snyder era in the same way Gunn's The Suicide Squad embraces Ayer's and moves in a new direction.

As far as the entirety of the "Restore the Snyderverse" demands, releasing the Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad may be a component of those fan requests, but its release doesn't undermine the DCEU's new direction, and arguably strengthens it, improving the foundation on which many of the future movies are already anchored.

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