Director David Ayer Blasts 2016's 'Suicide Squad': "Not My Movie"

Early praise of James Gunn's upcoming The Suicide Squad has started drawing comparisons to director David Ayer's 2016 Suicide Squad. And Ayer has something to say about it. The director took to Twitter for a lengthy rebuttal, slamming Warner Brothers for dramatically changing his film.

In a single tweet with three images of text titled "My Turn," Ayer described his struggles both in life and in making Suicide Squad. The tweet came in response to film critic Tim Grierson saying that Gunn's new film should make Ayer abandon his quest for a director's cut of his work. Ayer describes his difficult childhood, a grim and sad story written with a characteristically hard-boiled edge.

"I don't know what quit is," he writes. "I am not who you think I am. Nothing in my life was handed to me. It's been a struggle from the jump."

He goes on to describe his teenaged misadventures doing "Hoodrat s***," including heavy drug use, gang violence, and more. He joined the Navy to try to right himself, which taught him "discipline" and "a work ethic," but also left him with more trauma. That trauma sent him back on a downward spiral of bad choices. Ayer eventually discusses Training Day, the Denzel Washington-starring action flick that put him on the map. He wrote the screenplay based on his experiences on the streets of Los Angeles and Sinaloa, Mexico.

This brings him to the heart of the matter, where he completely disowns the cut of Suicide Squad released by Warner Bros:

"I put my life into Suicide Squad. I made something amazing. My cut is intricate and emotional journey with some bad people who are s*** on and discarded (a theme that resonates in my soul). The studio cut is not my movie. Read that again. And my cut is not the 10 week director's cut – it's a fully mature edit by Lee Smith standing on the incredible work by John Gilroy. It's all Steven Price's brilliant score, with not a single radio song in the whole thing. It has traditional character arcs, amazing performances, a solid third-act resolution. A handful of people have seen it."

My turn... https://t.co/E5uumAwvdp pic.twitter.com/ckr9kzeGFD

— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) July 29, 2021

Despite all of the fire from the Fury director, Ayer ended the tweet with support for both Gunn and his upcoming film.

"I am so proud of James and excited for the success that's coming," he says. "I support WB and am thrilled the franchise is getting the legs it needs. I'm rooting for everyone, the cast, the crew. Every movie is a miracle. And James' brilliant work will the miracles of miracles."

He signs off by saying that he will no longer speak publicly on this matter.

There was quite a bit of tampering with Suicide Squad before its release in August 2016. Warner Bros. commissioned multiple cuts by multiple editors, but publicly promoted Suicide Squad as a "David Ayer film." Ayer stood by Warner Bros. in months following release, probably so he didn't tank his own work a'la Josh Trank with Fantastic Four. He later became more vocal about the changes he was forced to make, and started distancing himself from the film.

In the wake of Zack Snyder getting to release a director's cut of Justice League, there has been some fan outcry for an "Ayer Cut" of Suicide Squad. Warner Bros. has previously shot down the idea, and it's not likely this angry tweet is going to change their minds.