Will Smith Wants To Release The Extended Cut Of His Worst Movie
Will Smith wants more of his worst.
This article is more than 2 years old
The 2021 release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League emboldened fans of Snyder’s era of the DCEU to push for another restoration — the release of the so-called “Ayer Cut” of 2016’s Suicide Squad. Last July, director David Ayer got more vocal than ever about how Warner Bros. altered the film against his wishes. Since then, a fan push to Release the Ayer Cut has peaked and dipped in momentum, and the success of James Gunn’s “soft reboot” of the franchise — The Suicide Squad — seems to have only served to garner more interest in the differences between the Ayer’s vision and what survived for the big screen. Now Will Smith, who played the male lead of Suicide Squad, has publicly endorsed the release of the Ayer Cut.
It was Variety who got the former Fresh Prince himself to give his nod to Ayer’s vision. Will Smith was promoting the new series Bel Air when Variety asked him whether he was yay or nay for the Ayer Cut, and Smith’s answer was a definitive yay: “There’s a whole lot that stayed on the floor for Suicide Squad. I’m into it. I’d love to see it. I love that world. I love what was created in both versions. I would absolutely love to.” You can see the video below.
Exactly what was “left on the floor?” Well, we don’t have all the details, but since its 2016 release different bits and pieces of what-could-have-been have come to light. Since the Release the Ayer Cut online movement has picked up steam, Ayer has helped to reveal a lot of those details to fans. For example, we know that Will Smith’s Deadshot and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn share a romance in the film. Diablo (Jay Hernandez) survives rather than dying in the final battle. There was also apparently a whole lot more of Jared Leto’s Joker — something that Ayer swears up and down would have made fans a lot friendlier to Leto’s version of the Clown Prince. Back in November, Ayer released a series of never before seen photos of Leto as the Joker, in the scenes that were presumably cut or shortened.
One thing seems certain — as a franchise, Suicide Squad is only going to get stronger and more popular. Along with the success of James Gunn’s film, the spinoff series Peacemaker starring John Cena as the titular vigilante is only boosting its popularity. Peacemaker season 2 is on the way, and Gunn has confirmed that more spinoffs of The Suicide Squad are coming. Add to all that any more sequels to Gunn’s film, and it could just be that Will Smith and other supporters of the Ayer Cut will get their wish. Audiences may get so hungry for Suicide Squad content that Warner Bros. will be more than happy to give the 2016 movie the Zack Snyder’s Justice League treatment.
Whether or not we get the Ayer Cut, we could see Will Smith return to the franchise as Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot. Last September, Smith confirmed he was open to coming back to the role, saying that he was asked to be in Gunn’s film but had to bow out because of scheduling. Of course, considering that — like Idris Elba’s Bloodsport — Deadshot is a world-class marksman and a mercenary with a daughter his criminal life has forced him to neglect, if both characters were to appear in the same movie, we’d likely get a repeat of the “he does exactly what I do” joke between Bloodsport and Peacmeaker in The Suicide Squad.
