Suicide Squad Director David Ayer Takes on Joker Fans Saying He Doesn’t “Understand” Harley Quinn

For some DC fans, there’s only one person they can see Harley Quinn being romantically involved with and, no, we don’t mean Poison Ivy. We mean the Joker, the maniacal, disturbing and frequently abusive villain she is most frequently associated with both in comics and on screen. However, Harley’s had other relationships including one with fellow member of the Suicide Squad, Deadshot and it’s that relationship that Suicide Squad director David Ayer has had to remind fans of — as well as of Harley’s agency as her own person — to Joker fans.

On Twitter, a fan asked Ayer about a specific scene in the film — the one in which Deadshot stares at Harley, prompting Harley to respond with a question about having a hickey — wanting to know if that was confirmation that Deadshot and Harley had hooked up. Ayer confirmed that they indeed had. The confirmation, however, prompted some Joker fans to weigh in, with one suggesting that Ayer doesn’t actually understand Harley Quinn. Except, as Ayer points out, he does. Harley and Deadshot have hooked up in comics.

Fans were quick to chime in that Harley and Deadshot also hook up in the Assault on Arkham animated film as well and while some fans noted that they didn’t exactly like either incident of Harley/Deadshot, most agreed that the inclusion of the pairing, even if only by briefly alluding to it in Suicide Squad, made it an unfair suggestion that Ayer didn’t “understand” Harley.

Another Joker fan, however, seemed to simply take issue at the idea that Harley would be involved with someone else when Joker was trying to “save” her. That prompted Ayer to point out that Harley is, in fact, her own person, one capable of making her own decisions independently of the Clown Prince of Crime.

“Because Harley has a vote in her life,” he wrote. “It’s her life not his.”

But the Harley/Deadshot discussion on social media wasn’t all Joker fans challenging Ayer’s choices. Some of the fan conversation about the confirmation of Harley and Deadshot’s hookup focused around how much more sense certain other moments in the film make once you realize the relationship. One fan noted that it explains why Deadshot didn’t shoot Harley despite being ordered to, to which Ayer noted that “a lot of storytelling was disrupted” — suggesting that there could be more in Ayer’s cut of the film.

Following the confirmation of Zack Snyder’s “Snyder Cut” of Justice League earlier this year, Ayer himself revealed on Twitter that his cut of Suicide Squad exists and would be relatively easy to assemble and finish, noting that his version of the film is one that has never been seen, though
at this point, it’s unclear if the so-called “Ayer Cut” of Suicide Squad will ever see the light of day

“My cut would be easy to complete,” the director tweeted. “It would be incredibly cathartic for me. It’s exhausting getting your ass kicked for a film that got the Edward Scissorhands treatment. The film I made has never been seen.”

What do you think about Ayer’s responses to fans trying to explain Harley Quinn to him? Let us know in the comments below.