The Big Regret David Ayer Has About Directing Suicide Squad

When Suicide Squad premiered in 2016, critics were less than thrilled. Despite a neat, brooding Comic-Con 2015 trailer and a star-studded cast, what could have been a cool take on some of the comics' most notorious misfits turned out to be one of the less esteemed entries in the DC Extended Universe.   

Of course, it eventually emerged that things didn't necessarily have to be that way. The movie's production was marred with all sorts of behind-the-scenes strangeness, and though it ultimately gave us DCEU mainstay Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), it's generally not regarded as a very good film. In fact, Suicide Squad was supposed to be completely different than what you saw, to the point that director David Ayer has stated on Twitter that Warner Bros. essentially shoehorned the movie into a different genre. "My soulful drama was beaten into a 'comedy,'" he wrote. 

With all of that in mind, it's hardly a shock that the entire Suicide Squad experience has left Ayer with some baggage to unpack. As it turns out, he apparently only has one major regret about directing Suicide Squad. 

David Ayer has emerged as one of the chief critics of the "studio cut" of Suicide Squad, and fans have been clamoring to see his "Ayer Cut" ever since Warner Bros announced the Snyder Cut of Justice League is on its way to HBO Max. Even so, the director has revealed that what he truly regrets about the whole debacle is feeling bad about his work. 

On October 17, 2020, Ayer quote tweeted some criticism about the "Ayer Cut," and stated in no uncertain terms that he kept quiet and took the blows when the movie came out — even though he knew full well that his version of the film is pretty awesome. "I took the hits like a good soldier when the studio cut hit the streets. It's who I am," the director wrote. He also noted that he recently watched his version of the film, and confirms that it's still pretty excellent. "I watched my cut for the first time since it was abandoned. It is f***ing amazing. On God."

Ayer went on to say that he felt awful about the whole thing for a long time, since the experience made him feel that he had messed up the movie. "I felt guilty for years like I f***ed," he wrote, before stating that he shouldn't have done that, what with his cut being quite great. "Nope. It's fire. It's the tone of the Comicon trailer 100%."

It's good to hear that Ayer has been able to vanquish his demons. Perhaps one day, the fans will also get to see the movie he intended Suicide Squad to be, and if not, we still have James Gunn's upcoming reboot to look forward to.