WarnerMedia won't be releasing David Ayer's cut of Suicide Squad

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The film won’t be getting the Justice League treatment

Suicide Squad's Joker
(Image credit: Roman Vasyanov)

Despite the enthusiasm generated by Zack Snyder's cut of Justice League, which released on HBO Max this past weekend to much acclaim from fans and critics alike, WarnerMedia CEO Ann Sarnoff has shot down the possibility of David Ayer's Suicide Squad receiving the same treatment in an interview with Variety.

When asked directly about whether we would get to see the director's original vision for Suicide Squad, Sarnoff stated emphatically that WarnerMedia "won’t be developing David Ayer’s cut."

This statement has been met with much disappointment from fans online, with the hashtag #ReleaseTheAyerCut trending once again on Twitter.

Among the people disappointed by the news is David Ayer himself, who responded to Sarnoff's comments by simply asking "Why?"

Ayer has publicly supported the idea of his original cut of Suicide Squad being released since Zack Snyder's Justice League became official, stating on Twitter that his cut of the film "would be easy to complete."

In his original post, Ayer went on to say that "It’s exhausting getting your ass kicked for a film that got the Edward Scissorhands treatment. The film I made has never been seen."

Why has the Ayer cut been refused?

Although the article does not provide answers as to why the Ayer cut has been completely dismissed, Sarnoff does make it clear that the studio wants to push forward with the DC universe, rather than look backward. 

"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," explained Sarnoff.

It's also likely that the studio would rather focus its efforts on James Gunn's upcoming film The Suicide Squad, which is considered somewhat of a soft-reboot of the franchise.

Release the Ayer cut

While it's clear that Warner Bros. has no interest in showing us David Ayer's original vision for Suicide Squad, which is reportedly much closer in tone to the fantastic Comic Con First Look trailer from 2015, we do hope the studio eventually backflips on its stance. 

Zack Snyder's Justice League has finally found its redemption years later, and it would be interesting to see whether David Ayer's cut of Suicide Squad could also redeem a much-derided film.

Stephen Lambrechts
Stephen Lambrechts
Senior Journalist, Phones and Entertainment

Stephen primarily covers phones and entertainment for TechRadar's Australian team, and has written professionally across the categories of tech, film, television and gaming in both print and online for over a decade. He's obsessed with smartphones, televisions, consoles and gaming PCs, and has a deep-seated desire to consume all forms of media at the highest quality possible. 

He's also likely to talk a person’s ear off at the mere mention of Android, cats, retro sneaker releases, travelling and physical media, such as vinyl and boutique Blu-ray releases. Right now, he's most excited about QD-OLED technology, The Batman and Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga.