Will Smith Says He’d ‘Love’ to See the Ayer Cut of ‘Suicide Squad’
Now that James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad has become a popular hit among DC Comics fans, and now that Gunn’s Peacemaker is proving equally popular on HBO Max, the cries for a release of David Ayer’s director’s cut of the first Suicide Squad have died down a little. But you know how these things go: Once fans get it in their heads that there is a superior version of a film out there, they will continue to clamor for it until they get it.
Those still demanding the so-called “Ayer Cut” of Suicide Squad do have at least one supporter among the film’s stars: Will Smith, who played the morally conflicted assassin Deadshot. Walking a red carpet yesterday, Smith voiced his support for the director’s cut, telling Variety that “there’s a whole lot that stayed on the [cutting room] floor for Suicide Squad” and that he’d “love to see it” get a release.
Again, if The Suicide Squad had been as much of a disaster as the theatrical version of Suicide Squad was, I think that Warner Bros. and DC would be much more open to releasing a director’s cut of the first movie. At this point, though, they have a budding multimedia franchise in their hands between The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. Why would they risk that by reminding everyone of the earlier version of the movie that most people did not like? It seems like a very dicey movie.
Smith’s latest project, a reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as a drama instead of a comedy (titled Bel-Air) premieres on Peacock on February 13.