David Ayer’s Suicide Squad: New cut of DCEU movie very unlikely

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Chances are that if you're reading this, you've watched Zack Snyder's Justice League this past weekend. If that's the case, odds are that you're aware that Snyder's black and white Justice is Gray edition is coming soon. With the Snyder Cut proving that the filmmaker's vision was superior to Joss Whedon's, this has long represented a watershed moment that fans thought could lead to other directors finally getting their vision realized on screen. The most obvious candidate is David Ayer's divisive Suicide Squad.

While a sequel/reboot is headed our way this year in the form of James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, many still clamor to see what Ayer originally had planned for Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Rick Flag, and the rest of Task Force X. Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but it doesn't sound like Warner Bros. has plans to #ReleaseTheAyerCut of Suicide Squad.

Recently when asked if Warner Bros. will be releasing a director's cut of David Ayer's Suicide Squad, WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff said, rather bluntly, "We won’t be developing David Ayer’s cut." Well, you don't get more definitive than that.

Instead of refurbishing past efforts, Sarnoff and Warner Bros. Studios are pressing forward. She says the future of DC is more than just films, and that fans should look forward to seeing some of their favorite characters in streaming shows, video games, television spinoffs, and big-screen features.

When asked for specifics about the future of DC as a brand, Sarnoff said the following:

We’ve got an incredible group of creators — television series creators, Max series creators, feature film creators — who are basically broadening the base of the talent that we work with on DC because we’re so excited about the potential to build out the DC multiverse. It’s one of the reasons why I was hired almost two years ago. The before-and-after was it was a very siloed organization with no connectivity between the businesses. DC was being developed, but in a kind of monolithic way in each division. My mantra coming in was to make it bigger and broader and we really want to surprise and delight the fans with more connective tissue across the various media and platforms. I’m talking movies, HBO Max, television and our games division.

When asked about the impact of the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign and how important it is that the studio listens to fans, Sarnoff replied:

We’re always going to listen to our fans, but we are in service of the broadest fanbase and we owe them an integrated, holistic strategy. Adding, We want different voices in the mix. For certain fans that want singular voices, they may be disappointed, but we would ask them to be patient and see what we’ve got in store because perhaps the newer voices in the mix will have just as compelling stories to tell. On balance, you of course want to listen to your fans, but we do want to stay true to our vision and our mission for DC and build that out.

Sarnoff also addressed the more toxic side of the Snyder Cut campaign, saying there's no room for it in their business and more.

We’re not tolerating any of that. That behavior is reprehensible no matter what franchise you’re talking about or what business you’re talking about. It’s completely unacceptable. I’m very disappointed in the fans that have chosen to go to that negative place with regard to DC, with regard to some of our executives. It’s just disappointing because we want this to be a safe place to be. We want DC to be a fandom that feels safe and inclusive. We want people to be able to speak up for the things they love, but we don’t want it to be a culture of canceling things that any small faction isn’t happy with. We are not about that. We are about positivity and celebration.

Lastly, Sarnoff addressed the fact that the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign has recently converted into #RestoreTheSnyderVerse, with fans calling for Zack Snyder to make more superhero movies for the DCEU.

I appreciate that they love Zack’s work and we are very thankful for his many contributions to DC. We’re just so happy that he could bring his cut of the “Justice League” to life because that wasn’t in the plan until about a year ago. With that comes the completion of his trilogy. We’re very happy we’ve done this, but we’re very excited about the plans we have for all the multi-dimensional DC characters that are being developed right now.

For more related to the future of the DCEU, including Ray Fisher's ongoing feud with the studio, the Walter Hamada problem, and closing out the Snyder Era of DC films, be sure to check out Variety's full interview.