David Ayer has officially washed his hands of Warner's Suicide Squad cut

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David Ayer has hit back at critics of 2016's Suicide Squad again

A promotional image of David Ayer's 2016 superhero movie Suicide Squad
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

David Ayer has announced that he has disowned the 2016 theatrical version of his Suicide Squad movie.

In a lengthy and personal letter posted to his Twitter account, Ayer revealed that he would no longer associate himself with Warner Bros' supervillain film as "the studio cut is not [his] movie."

Ayer's emotional response comes in the wake of renewed criticism of the movie, which appeared online ahead of the release of James Gunn's The Suicide Squad.

Responding to the latest round of criticism concerning 2016's Suicide Squad, Ayer hit back in a three-page letter explaining why he would stop associating himself with the theatrical cut of the movie.

"I put my life into Suicide Squad," Ayer wrote. "I made something amazing – my cut is [an] intricate and emotional journey with some 'bad people' who are s**t on and discarded (a theme that resonates in my soul). 

"The studio cut is not my movie. Read that again. And my cut is not the 10 week director's cut – it's a fully mature edit by Lee Smith standing on the incredibly [sic] work by John Gilroy. It's all Steven Price's brilliant score, with not a single radio song in this whole thing. 

"It has traditional character arcs, amazing performances and a solid 3rd act resolution. A handful of people have seen it. If someone says they have seen it, they haven't."

Analysis: fans renew calls for the Ayer Cut to be released – but it won't be

A promotional image for 2016 Warner Bros. movie Suicide Squad

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

In the wake of Ayer's social media post, fans and fellow industry employees were quick to jump to the director's defence.

After Ayer explained how good Gunn's Suicide Squad movie was, the Guardians of the Galaxy director expressed his admiration for Ayer's work and their friendship. Fellow DCEU alumni, including Birds of Prey helmer Cathy Yan, also lauded him for "speaking his truth".

It wasn't long before the #ReleasetheAyerCut began to trend on social media, too.

Actors including Justice League's Ray Fisher, as well as other Twitter users, called on Warner Bros. to release Ayer's original vision for the movie. The resurfaced calls come after the studio eventually relented and allowed Zack Snyder to produce an original version of his Justice League movie, which launched on HBO Max in March 2021.

However, while Snyder fans got their wish over Justice League, there are no plans now, or in the future, for the Ayer Cut of 2016's Suicide Squad to ever see the light of day.

Following the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, WarnerMedia CEO Ann Sarnoff told Variety that the studio "won’t be developing David Ayer’s cut."

With Ayer officially distancing himself from Warner Bros' theatrical cut, too, it appears that any slim chance of David Ayer's Suicide Squad cut being released have all but ended.

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Tom Power
Senior Entertainment Reporter

As TechRadar's senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You'll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as this Moon Knight TV spot.

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