‘Suicide Squad’ Director Regrets Not Making Joker the Main Bad Guy

When Suicide Squad debuted last year, many fans were disappointed that the film’s big villain was Cara Delevinge’s Enchantress instead of Jared Leto’s Joker. As it turns out, the film’s director regrets the choice, too.

Suicide Squad director David Ayer responded to actor Norman D. Golden II’s comment on Twitter that he had seen the film and enjoyed it, but instead of a simple “thank you” response, Ayer revealed that he feels like the film would have done better if he had done things differently. Ayer then explained that he now realizes the Joker should have been the film’s primary bad guy.

“Believe me. I agonize over this. Yes. Joker should have been main bad guy,” Ayer wrote.

In Suicide Squad, the Joker’s role is very brief. He appears long enough to attempt to rescue Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) by hijacking the helicopter sent to extract the Squad on their mission to save Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and then, with the helicopter rescue having failed, again at the end of the movie when he breaks into Belle Reeve Prison to rescue Harley. Instead, the villain is Enchantress who goes on a spree to eradicate mankind because Waller imprisoned her, turning the residents of Midway City into monsters. The choice to not focus on the Joker was panned by many of the film’s critics, with some going so far as to say that Leto was wasted in the role for as little screen time the Joker really had.

This recent Twitter exchange isn’t the first time Ayer has opened up about his regrets when it comes to not making the Joker Suicide Squad‘s villain. Earlier this year, the director responded to another fan on the social media site explaining that if he could do it over again he would definitely change it.

“Wish I had a time machine,” he wrote. “I’d make Joker the main villain and engineer a more grounded story. I have to take the good and bad and learn from it.”

Even without a time machine, Ayer will have an opportunity to apply what he’s learned from Suicide Squad. The director is set to direct the Harley Quinn spinoff film Gotham City Sirens, giving him another chance with the DC Extended Universe.