Suicide Squad Director Blames DC Executive for Changes That Broke His Timeline

It’s been almost four years since Suicide Squad was released and we’re still finding out about some of the decision making and tinkering that went on behind the scenes. Director David Ayer has never shied away from admitting many elements he wanted to include didn’t make it onto the big screen and answering fan questions about inconsistencies. Replying to a tweet about the film Ayer not only addressed one of these, but seemingly pointed a finger at who was responsible for a pretty major plot hole in the film concerning Jared Leto‘s Joker and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Buckle up, this one ironically requires some backstory.

Ayer previously revealed that the reasoning behind Leto’s Joker having a massive grill holding his teeth in place came after he had murdered Robin (Jason Todd) in the DCEU, while also explaining the controversial “Damaged” tattoo on his forehead. As Ayer previously said: “This is sort of my personal thing and maybe less about a larger connection. But Joker killed Robin and Batman basically smashes his teeth out and locks him up in Arkham Asylum. It’s in the asylum where Joker would have done the ‘damaged’ tattoo as a message to Batman saying, ‘You’ve damaged me. I was so beautiful before and now you’ve destroyed my face.’ That’s where the grill comes from.”

Also present in the movie, when introducing Harley Quinn, comes a title card that says she was an “Accomplice to the murder of Robin.” But if The Joker had killed Robin and gotten his teeth held in by a grill before he even met Dr. Harleen Quinzel, how is that possible? One fan on Twitter mused that this title card was added in by someone that didn’t know what Ayer’s story intentions where, something the director confirmed, adding: “Yes. That broke my timeline. Johns added it.” The “Johns” Ayer is referring to is seemingly Geoff Johns who served as President and Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment at the time.

Rumors have circulated for some time in the years since the movie released about Johns work on the movies of the DCEU but this marks one of the clearest indicators from Ayer himself that the comic book scribe had a hand in changing his movie. Lucky for Ayer, a movement about releasing “his cut” of Suicide Squad has picked up steam in the days since Zack Snyder’s Justice League release was confirmed.

Ayer has gone on record to confirm that “yes,” his cut of the movie does exist, with a recent rumor claiming that Warner Bros. has begun discussing the Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad at some point on HBO Max, similarly to how they are approaching Justice League. The report outlines that it would be relatively easy to finish the cut, something that Ayer and those tied to the studio have recently hinted as well. This version of the movie would seemingly fix this plot hole.