As more and more time has passed since Suicide Squad was released in theaters, David Ayer has become more and more outspoken on his thoughts on the film. He’s recently shared his reaction to the negative reviews, as well as his regret on not making the Joker the main villain.
Speaking of the Joker, today Ayer dropped some information about a key Joker scene that was cut from the film. Fans might remember from the trailers a shot of the Joker in a tuxedo with burns on his face arming a grenade and waving “BYE BYE!” to the camera. We did see the Joker in his tuxedo in the film when he saved Harley from Amanda Waller, but after his helicopter crashed he wasn’t seen again until the end of the film when he broke Harley out of Belle Reve.
This left Twitter user @brucesj0ker curious as to what happened to the cut Joker grenade scene prominently used in most promotional videos for the film. Well, director David Ayer answered the question himself:
After Joker dropped (Harley Quinn) from the (helicopter) and crashed, Enchantress made a deal with him. He was going to take Harley home and be “King of Gotham.” Harley stood up to him and refused to betray her new friends. The Squad turned on him and he escaped.
After Joker dropped HQ from the help and crashed, Enchantress made a deal with him. He was going to take Harley home and be “King of Gotham” Harley stood up to him and refused to betray her new friends. The Squad turned on him and he escaped. https://t.co/unnOewEYBQ
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) March 24, 2018
Jared Leto has been openly critical of the theatrical release of Suicide Squad, saying that he filmed enough Joker scenes that were left out that could be a whole movie on their own. However, Suicide Squad was the first DC film to feel Warner Bros. wrath in terms of changing tones and course correcting post Batman v Superman. It’s very clear from the original Comic-Con trailer, which felt more in line with BvS, to the trailers after it, that WB decided on a massive tonal shift for the film and the DCEU as a whole.
Unlike Zack Snyder, who seems more or less done with DC and WB since… ahem… “Stepping away” from Justice League, David Ayer seems excited and willing to come back for other DC projects. The last we heard, he was slated to make a Gotham City Sirens film, but nothing has been confirmed or set in stone.
I wasn’t that crazy about Leto’s Joker, but I also feel like we didn’t get enough of him to form a real opinion. With how much he was marketed being in the film, and highly insinuated that he was the foil in the Squad’s plans, the 12 minutes or so we got of him just trying to get Harley back was nothing short of disappointing. After Heath posthumously won an Oscar for his depiction of the Joker, the character’s return to the silver screen had to be nothing short of brilliant, instead we got a “Meh”. Hopefully, if Leto’s Joker returns in a future film, he’ll have more to do and be more of a focal point of the film.
