Suicide Squad: David Ayer says working on the 2016 DC film broke him

It’s a well-documented fact that writer/director David Ayer wasn’t happy with the cut of his DC Comics film adaptation Suicide Squad that Warner Bros. released back in 2016, and he and many DC fans are hoping the “Ayer Cut” will someday be sent out into the world. Now, during a conversation with Jon Bernthal on the podcast Real Ones, Ayer has admitted that the experience of working on Suicide Squad “broke” him.

Ayer told Bernthal (as reported by Variety), “Hollywood, I tell people, is like watching someone you love get f*cked by someone you hate. The big one is Suicide Squad. That shit broke me. That handed me my ass. Come right off (the 2014 war movie) Fury, right? I had the town in my hand — could’ve done anything, and I did do anything. And go on this journey with [Suicide Squad]. And the same thing — authentic, truthful, let’s do all the rehearsal, let’s really get in each other’s souls. Let’s create this amazing, collaborative thing, right? And then Deadpool opened, right? And they never tested Batman v. Superman, so they were expecting a different result, and then they got hammered by all the critics. Then it’s like, ‘Okay, we’re going to turn David Ayer’s dark, soulful movie into a f*cking comedy now.’“

Suicide Squad had the following synopsis: Figuring they’re all expendable, a U.S. intelligence officer decides to assemble a team of dangerous, incarcerated supervillains for a top-secret mission. Now armed with government weapons, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and other despicable inmates must learn to work together. Dubbed Task Force X, the criminals unite to battle a mysterious and powerful entity, while the diabolical Joker launches an evil agenda of his own.

The film stars Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, Adam Beach, Karen Fukuhara, Cara Delevingne, David Harbour, and Alain Chanoine, with appearances by Ben Affleck and Ezra Miller as Batman and The Flash.

Speaking about his hope that people will be able to see the Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad eventually, Ayer has previously said, “All I know is my unseen film plays much better than the studio release. The interest in my cut being show seems real and organic. And (new DC Studios head James Gunn) told me it would have its time to be shared. He absolutely deserves to launch his DC universe without more drama about old projects. In a way I’m chained to this thing. I’m riding a tiger here and navigating this situation the best I can. Life is a very strange journey.“

Ayer and many viewers were disappointed with the theatrical cut of Suicide Squad, but the movie was still a hit, drawing in almost $750 million at the worldwide box office.

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