Ever since Warner Bros. made the bold move of releasing an R-rated extended cut of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice on its Blu-Ray release, many fans have speculated if the same would happen for subsequent DC films. When word recently came down the pipeline that two distinct cuts of Suicide Squad exist, that only proceeded to add fuel to the fire.
Well, make sure you’re sitting down for this one, because director David Ayer has not only confirmed that two cuts exist in a recent conversation with Empire, but also that there are several more:
“There’s a linear version we did where it opens up with June in the cave and tells the story in sequence with the arrests and Batman, and then we go to Belle Reve. Honestly, there may be six or seven different versions of the film. In that version, [test] audiences were left with a lot of questions and a little disoriented as to who to watch and why. So we came up with what we call the ‘dossier’ version which has Amanda presenting the backstories and origins of the various members.”
In relation to that, some are holding out hope for an R-rated cut (as mentioned earlier), while others seem to think what was shown in theaters warranted one to begin with. According to Ayer, there’s no footage around to earn a more severe rating.
“You could easily make this R-rated by having two F-bombs or someone smoke a cigarette. But that’s not what I think people mean when they ask for an R-rated version, so it was always meant to be a PG-13. It’s a decision you make before you turn the cameras on.”
I guess it’s ultimately up to the filmmakers and the studio as to what may be included on the home video release. An extended edition would indeed boost sales, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they stood by the theatrical cut and awarded us a generous number of deleted scenes – especially ones featuring The Joker – as bonus material.
Speaking of Joker, his tattoos and grill have been a talking point ever since the first promotional shot of him was released. Ayer confirms the origin of the grill, which I suspected from the beginning, along with explaining the now infamous “Damaged” ink:
“This is sort of my personal thing and maybe less about a larger connection. But Joker killed Robin and Batman basically smashes his teeth out and locks him up in Arkham Asylum. It’s in the asylum where Joker would have done the ‘damaged’ tattoo as a message to Batman saying, ‘You’ve damaged me. I was so beautiful before and now you’ve destroyed my face.’ That’s where the grill comes from.”
Suicide Squad is now playing in theaters.
