Warner Bros. says no to “Ayer Cut” and “Restore the SnyderVerse” movement

Warner Bros. is in a pickle. After years of denying the existence of a “Snyder Cut” of 2017’s Justice League, they backpedaled and announced that the four-hour long Zack Snyder’s Justice League would be released on HBO Max. It came out on March 18 and has been a massive hit.

Now fans are hoping that David Ayer’s 2016 movie Suicide Squad can get the same treatment, along with restoring the “Snyderverse” so that Zack Snyder can continue his vision.

Variety talked with WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff about the future of DC movies, and she’s excited about a broader approach to DC properties in the future. “My mantra coming in was to make it bigger and broader and we really want to surprise and delight the fans with more connective tissue across the various media and platforms. I’m talking movies, HBO Max, television and our games division.”

But when it comes to a director’s cut of 2016’s Suicide Squad, or an “Ayer Cut” based on the director’s original vision for the movie, Sarnoff didn’t mince words: “We won’t be developing David Ayer’s cut.”

No Ayer Cut or “Restore the SnyderVerse“…for now

The whole idea of the Snyder Cut and the Ayer Cut came about when fans noticed that there was material in teasers and trailers for both movies that didn’t show up in their theatrical release.

In the case of Ayer’s Suicide Squad, Jared Leto’s Joker had more scenes in the film than fans saw in the final theatrical release, and that’s just one example of many things that are missing. Now that fans know how different Snyder’s version of Justice League was from the Joss Whedon cut, they want to see Suicide Squad restored to the way Ayer originally envisioned it. It’s true that James Gunn is mounting his own Suicide Squad movie to release later this year, but that’s no reason Ayer couldn’t release an Ayer Cut as well.

Though Warner Bros. has effectively put an end to the idea of the Ayer Cut or restoring the SnyderVerse, there’s always the possibility that they backpedal (again) and come up with a way to expand the DCEU how they like while still allowing Ayer and Snyder a chance to continue with their visions.

It would have seemed impossible before, but now fans have Zack Snyder’s Justice League to prove that the impossible can happen with the right amount of pressure.

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