With the DC Universe franchise having launched a number of months again with Creature Commandos and set to ship its first theatrical film within the type of James Gunn’s Superman this summer season, it’s straightforward to neglect that lower than a decade in the past, the DCEU was additionally in its relative infancy. Following Man of Metal’s 2013 launch, 2016 delivered Batman v Superman: Daybreak of Justice and Suicide Squad. Nonetheless, very similar to Justice League in 2017, the theatrical model of Suicide Squad didn’t signify director David Ayer’s true imaginative and prescient, and he’s been pushing for the discharge of the “Ayer Minimize” ever since. Nonetheless, he’s additionally now acknowledged that Gunn’s reasoning for holding off on doing so is smart.
Whereas discussing A Working Man, his contribution to the 2025 motion pictures schedule that opens in theaters this weekend, Ayer was requested by THR if it’s “all nonetheless quiet” from Warner Bros. Discovery relating to risk of Suicide Squad’s Ayer Minimize seeing the sunshine of day. The filmmaker confirmed that’s certainly nonetheless the case, saying:
Yeah, for certain. Once I did converse with James [Gunn], he wished to [first] get some scores on the board. DC has its historical past and its legacy, and it’s taking some work to reestablish that IP and get it transferring within the path they need. So it’s completely honest for them to try this.
Along with his writing and/or directorial duties on Superman, Creature Commandos (which is coming again for a second season) and Peacemaker Season 2, which hits the 2025 TV schedule this August, James Gunn can be co-running DC Studios with Peter Safran. So he’ll be the one to make the decision if the Ayer Minimize is ever launched, and to be honest, it appears like he’s amenable to the thought slightly than simply capturing it down. It’s actually a extra optimistic place in comparison with when David Ayer stated in January 2024 that he was executed combating for his authentic model of Suicide Squad.
All that being stated, like David Ayer, I perceive the place James Gunn is coming from. The DC Universe has solely simply begun, and it wants time to seek out its full footing with the assorted upcoming DC motion pictures and upcoming DC TV reveals formally slated. Ayer continued:
Yeah, perhaps with sufficient time, it’ll be seen as a extra nostalgic factor. However only for the sake of all people that labored on [2016’s Suicide Squad], it actually does should be seen. I’m extremely pleased with the work I did there. However on the similar time, it’s not my IP, and it’s not my studio. So I completely perceive what James is doing, and I feel he’s going to have some actual successes with the lanes he’s taking place.
This jogs my memory of the way it’s been 30 years since Batman Without end got here out, and there’s nonetheless curiosity within the “Schumacher Minimize” of Val Kilmer’s lone outing within the cape and cowl. Alas, no progress as been made on making that launch occur, and it stays to be seen if the Ayer Minimize will fare any higher. Nonetheless, contemplating that Zack Snyder’s Justice League was finally made obtainable to stream with a Max subscription and launched on house media, I preserve that the Suicide Squad David Ayer initially made for theatrical consumption must be afforded the identical alternative.
So perhaps as we transfer additional away from the shelving of the DCEU, releasing the Ayer Minimize can present that nostalgia that the director talked about. Till then, it appears like Ayer is wanting ahead to what the DCU has developing, which additionally consists of motion pictures like Supergirl: Lady of Tomorrow and Clayface, and reveals like Lanterns and Paradise Misplaced.