Release The Ayer Cut

Overview

Release The Ayer Cut refers to a fan-led campaign for the release of the David Ayer cut of 2016's Suicide Squad, similar to the Release The Snyder Cut campaign to allow Zack Snyder's cut of Justice League. Ayer's Suicide Squad was critically panned, but interest in his cut of the film picked up when he implied it was edited poorly, writing "The film I made has never been seen." The Ayer cut of Suicide Squad is supposedly a more dramatic and complex version than the film that was released, which Ayer described as being "beaten into a comedy."

Background

On May 25th, 2020, after the Snyder Cut of Justice League released on HBO Max, Suicide Squad director David Ayer responded to a fan who noted that the released version of Suicide Squad was not the version Ayer wanted us to see. Ayer wrote, "My cut would be easy to complete. It would be incredibly cathartic for me. It’s exhausting getting your ass kicked for a film that got the Edward Scissorhands treatment. The film I made has never been seen."^[1]

Developments

Ayer's tweet prompted some to call for releasing the "Ayer cut" of Suicide Squad in a similar fashion to the "Release The Snyder Cut" movement. Calls for the Ayer cut intensified after Ayer explained his vision for the film over the coming months. On May 30th, 2020, Ayer^[2] explained what, in his view, happened to Suicide Squad, writing, "This trailer nailed the tone and intention of the film I made. Methodical. Layered. Complex, beautiful and sad. After the BVS" (Batman vs. Superman) "reviews shell shocked the leadership at the time, and the success of Deadpool – My soulful drama was beaten into a 'comedy.'" On July 1st, he said^[3] his cut "exists" and that fans would need to campaign HBO Max and ATT to help it see the light of day.

Actors in the film have supported the campaign. Ray Fisher,^[4] who played Cyborg in Justice League, said he wanted a release of the Ayer cut for his "next birthday" in September of 2020 (shown below). Jared Leto said, "I would love for him to be able to work on (Suicide Squad) and make the film of his dreams."^[5]

On November 4th, 2021, Ayer re-sparked interest in his cut of Suicide Squad after posting a picture^[6] of Jared Leto's Joker, which was much maligned at the time of release and barely appeared in the original film, writing, "Jared killed it, but no one knows." The tweet caused "#ReleaseTheAyerCut"^[7] to trend on Twitter that day.

Search Interest

External References