David Ayer Offers More Insight on SUICIDE SQUAD Reshoots and Reducing Joker "to a Punchline"
Director David Ayer continues to be asked by fans about his Suicide Squad movie and his experience making it, and he’s happy to answer and offer more insight on the production and how it changed while he was working on it.
In a recent reply to fans on X, Ayer shared a behind-the-scenes clip of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, noting how amazing of a time it was making the movie. Ayer was then asked if the reshoots on the film changed Jared Leto’s Joker. Ayer responded, saying:
“Every single method was used to reduce Joker to a punchline instead of the Clown Prince of Crime. The king of the Gotham underworld that he is. Put it this way. If you recut an actor’s performance with the goal of destroying it, it ain’t that hard.”
Ayer also asked about the film’s reshoots and if he was involved, or if someone else came in to shoot them. in regards to that said:
“I shot them. I was hired to do a job and I did it. And if I ended up in the same situation I would shoot what I had to shoot. At the end of the day I’m just an employee doing a job. I take my obligations seriously no matter how painful.”
When previously talking about the original intent of the Joker, Ayer said: “That’s what happens when you hack a performance and character arc to pieces. I’m sorry that’s all you were allowed to see. Now your mind is closed to the truth.”
Ayer has previously talked about his original cut of the film and how it’s so much better than the version that the studio butchered and released in theaters. One thing he said was that the original version of the film was "ripped to pieces," and some of Jared Leto’s "terrifying" scenes as Joker were cut from the film.
When talking about the film, Ayer said: “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.”
The original cut of the film included “a lot more Joker including a big fight with him in the subway.” It was also explained that the beginning of the film “wasn’t edited like a music video, as all of the flashbacks happened in chronological order.” One of the most important aspects of his original cut was that there was “a very different and clear tone to the Joker and Harley’s relationship, which actually fits better with the opening of Birds of Prey.”
Another fan then reached out and asked about Joker’s face tattoos, and it’s here that Ayer admits that he regrets that decision. He said: “It was Joker trolling Batman after getting his teeth punched in by him. It’s the one aesthetic choice I wish I hadn’t made. Caught a lot of smoke for it obviously.”
Ayer seems pretty confident that one day his cut of Suicide Squad will see the light of day, which would be cool!