Suicide Squad Director David Ayer Confirms His Vision Exists In an Unlikely Place

Fans are demanding that Warner Bros. “release the Ayer cut” of Suicide Squad, a reference to an extended director’s cut that was apparently screened for executives and test audiences before being cut down to the theatrical version released in 2016. There have long been rumors of an “Ayer Cut” — one that is supposedly much closer to completion than Zack Snyder’s Justice League — and so following a years-long, successful campaign to convince AT&T and Warner Bros. to release Snyder’s cut of Justice League, DC Films fans have turned their attention to the Ayer Cut (as well as a rumored “Schumacher Cut” of Batman Forever).

Now, Ayer has confirmed something fans have suspected for a while: the “Ayer Cut” of Suicide Squad does kinda-sorta exist. The film’s novelization, apparently, is the closest fans will get — at least for now — to a completed version fo Ayer’s vision for the film.

Asked on Twitter whether the novelization is “the closest thing to your original cut of the film?,” Ayer answered simply “yes.” You can see the exchange below.

The novelization of Suicide Squad was written by Crisis on Infinite Earths scribe Marv Wolfman, who also adapated Superman Returns. Some fans have tried reaching out to him on social media as well about the book, but Wolfman is rarely on Twitter so it’s unlikely he will respond.

In the years since the film’s theatrical release, there have been plenty of clues as to what would be in Ayer’s longer cut. There would be more Joker and Harley (although not so much more that it could be its own separate movie, as Jared Leto had once said); more Katana; and a different opening sequence.

As for the novelization itself, Wolfman’s version of the story is told in a much more linear fashion, cutting back and forth between moments less. That could be something Ayer had originally planned, or it might be a necessity in adapting a complicated story with a lot of characters to a new, non-visual format. It also had more character development for most of the characters, including the story of how June and Rick Flag ended up together.

If you want to get your hands on it, you can buy the novelization for under $10 either in physical (mass market paperback) form or as an ebook on Amazon and other online retailers. As stock dwindles (which tends to happen with older books when they appear in the news), be careful not to overpay. For instance, buying Wolfman’s Superman Returns paperback on Amazon would cost you between $20 and $100, depending on the edition, but there are plenty on eBay for about $10 including shipping.