Regardless of Past Claims, 'Suicide Squad' to Get Extended Cut on Home Video
When Suicide Squad opened to huge box-office numbers but terrible reviews this past August, many assumed that the film’s hopelessly clumsy construction was the result of studio interference — and that, like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it would inevitably receive a longer, more coherently put-together second cut. At the time, director David Ayer definitively rejected that idea, telling Collider that while he had about 10 minutes of deleted scenes, “this cut of the movie is my cut, there’s no sort of parallel universe version of the movie, the released movie is my cut.”
And now — prepare to be shocked! — it turns out that fans will, in fact, get a new edition of the DC Comics film after all, when Warner Bros releases Suicide Squad: Extended Cut this fall, replete with 13 minutes of new footage. What that material will actually be remains unknown; Ayer told Empire, “Honestly, there may be six or seven different versions of the film.“ But given Jared Leto claims that the filmmaker left enough Joker-related scenes on the cutting-room floor to make up an entire standalone Clown Prince of Crime movie, it’s not difficult to assume that at least some of this never-before-seen stuff will (for better or worse) focus on the Oscar winner’s tattooed villain.
Related: The Secret Drama Behind the Scenes of ‘Suicide Squad’
In light of BvS, which was vastly improved by its R-rated “Ultimate Edition,” this announcement should come as welcome news to those who found Suicide Squad lacking — although it also suggests that Warner Bros and DC might be best off simply letting their idiosyncratic directors make (and release) the movies they want to the first time around, rather than having them butcher their work for theaters and then properly reassemble it for home video. Regardless, you can find out if Ayer and company have improved upon their $739 million-grossing blockbuster when Suicide Squad: Extended Cut arrives on digital HD on Nov. 13, and on Blu-ray on Dec. 13.
