Why 'Suicide Squad' director David Ayer's 'heart breaks' for Jared Leto's Joker

Released in 2016, Suicide Squad was the third film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film has an ensemble cast with Jared Leto as the Joker, who received criticism for his performance. The actor appeared for a small screen time in the film. Now, director of Suicide Squad, David Ayer revealed that most of the scenes are unseen. Read to know more.

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David Ayer’s heart breaks for Jared Leto

A couple of days back, David Ayer was interacting with his followers on Twitter, where he is quite active. A user tweeted that Jared Leto’s Joker was too creepy for compassion and his look did not convince everyone like 'Batfleck' (Ben Affleck as Batman) did. Replying to the tweet, Ayer mentioned that his heart breaks for Leto as he did ‘magnificent work’ in the film. He revealed that most of his scenes are not seen by the audiences. Check out his tweet.

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According to prior reports, there was a lot of behind the scenes drama while Suicide Squad was in production. David Ayer and Warner Bros. executives had trouble in settling on an appropriate tone, which led to two different cuts of the film. After getting feedback from test screenings of both the cuts, Ayer and the executives found a common ground and the studio went on with a lighter, PG-13 version. This resulted in several scenes of the Joker being cut out from the film.

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Jared Leto appeared as the Joker in Suicide Squad for less than 15 minutes. In an interview after the film’s release, the Academy Award-winning actor said that there were a lot of his scenes which he wished should have been in the final cut. He said that there is probably enough footage to make a solo Joker movie.

Jared Leto was reportedly promised his own solo film playing the Crown Prince of Crime by Warner Bro. studios. But after the backlash he received along with the movie, the standalone film got cancelled. Later, Joaquin Phoenix was cast as the Joker in Todd Philips’ Joker (2019). Leto was reportedly unhappy with the decision and even tried to cancel it. Phoenix went on to win an Academy Award for his performance.

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Suicide Squad stars Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Scott Eastwood, Karen Fukuhara, Ike Barinholtz, and Cara Delevingne. It received mix reviews from the audiences but fared well at the box office and even won an Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 89th Academy Award. It was followed by a spin-off film Birds of Prey (2020). A standalone sequel, The Suicide Squad helmed by James Gunn is scheduled to release in 2021.