After almost two years of marketing, audiences would be forgiven for thinking that they were about to witness something universally life-changing in Jared Leto’s performance as The Joker in Suicide Squad. Now that the film has finally been released though, audiences are forgiven in asking where all that wondrous footage has gone – given that we seem to have seen more of it in preview clips than actually exist in the final film. Unsurprisingly, this accounts for a large proportion of the criticism that has been levelled at this latest entry into the DC Extended Universe.
In promoting Suicide Squad in the UK – just as negative reviews for the film began to flood the internet – Jared Leto went some way to addressing the apparent disappointment of those hoping to see more of this miraculous transformation he’s reported to have undergone.
“There are a lot of scenes that didn’t make it to the final film. Hopefully they will see the light of day. Who knows.”
This comment will undoubtedly add fuel to the fire currently being stoked by those that accuse Warner Bros. of meddling in the creative process of writer-director David Ayer in response to the negative reviews of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. That theory claims that the studio were deeply rattled by the viciousness of the backlash against Zack Snyder’s giant showdown earlier this year, and so they attempted to lighten the tone of Suicide Squad, mid-production. Recent reports of behind-the-scenes drama certainly go some way to supporting that theory, too.
Will our Joker fever be soothed by the release of a Suicide Squad Ultimate Edition on DVD? Will Warner Bros. finally come to understand that they are better off just letting us see the versions of their films intended by the filmmakers in the first place? These questions and more will almost certainly be answered in the coming weeks, as the bones of Suicide Squad are relentlessly picked over by fans and critics alike.
