Famous director David Ayer said a botched editing job on his 2016 film “Suicide Squad” cost him the opportunity to run the DC Comics cinematic universe, during a recent podcast interview.
Ayer spoke out during a recent appearance on actor Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast, and said there were early rumors suggesting he was in line to become the head honcho at Warner Bros.’ DC Studios. He went on to address the director’s cut of the film. “Everyone I’ve shown the cut has the same reaction: rage. Like, ‘this is the movie we wanted, why didn’t we get this?'” Ayer said on the podcast.
Ayer complained about the way things worked out, and insisted that if his cut had been released, the movie would not have underperformed and he would be sitting atop the DC Studios throne. Instead, he claims, the studio’s decisions sabotaged his ambitions.
“During a time, during ‘Suicide Squad,’ when the dailies were coming in, people were like, ‘Oh shit, maybe Ayer’s going to take over DC,'” Ayer said on the podcast. “It’s ‘Game of Thrones’ in there. The palace politics were insane.”
He reiterated his misfortune, and emphasized how much the director’s cut affected his future.
“They never tested my cut, and the thing is, I have it, I fucking have it, and if I didn’t, oh my God…”Ayer said. (RELATED: James Gunn Will Direct DC Reboot, Wants To Give Iconic Superhero The ‘Dignity He Deserves’)
James Gunn later took a run at the supervillain team with his similarly titled 2021 film “The Suicide Squad” and became the co-CEO of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran.
Ayer said Gunn has supported the possibility of making his “Suicide Squad” director’s cut available for viewing, but there have been no concrete developments to date.