Director David Ayer says his heart breaks for Jared Leto's Joker performance

Director David Ayer says his heart breaks for Jared Leto’s Joker performance

May 7th 2020, 9:53am

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Sometimes it feels like director David Ayer has been on a nearly four-year-long apology tour for 2016's SUICIDE SQUAD. Despite the film being financially successful, critics weren't kind to the film and fan reaction was also very mixed. Ayer seems to open himself to criticism via social media when the occasional fan tweet crosses his path and he happens to comment on it. This has occurred yet again due to a tweet regarding Jared Leto's Joker look in the film.

When discussing character development on social media with fans, Ayer commented on Leto's look in the film but also seem to express a bit of sadness that we never got to see 100% of what Leto was doing with the role. You can check out the tweet exchange below:

For sure character creation is a tightrope. I took inspiration from the current DC comics. I find it incredible it’s still such a topic 5 years later. My heart breaks for Jared – he did magnificent work. Most of it remains unseen. https://t.co/IRj7vB1ZjG

— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) May 5, 2020

It's clear from watching SUICIDE SQUAD that a lot of Leto's scenes were cut from the film. It's something Leto himself has expressed disappointment over and even reportedly told fans that he was "feeling sort of tricked into being a part of something that had been pitched to him very differently." Leto also thought the film was going to be a bit more artistic and not the popcorn entertainment flick the movie became. It's crazy to think but Leto only has about 7 minutes of screentime in SUICIDE SQUAD'S two hour and three-minute running time. Some of his scenes were restored for the extended Blu-ray cut but it's still not much more in the scheme of things.

David Ayer claims that there is much more to see of Leto's Joker portrayal but Warner Bros. and DC aren't likely interested in fans seeing it since they ultimately went the more artistic route that Leto likely wanted with their release of JOKER. Leto wasn't invited along for that ride and Joaquin Phoenix was cast in the Todd Phillips film, which earned him his first Academy Award. I think it's fair for Leto to feel a little slighted because I'm sure he was pitched something far different from the final result and he wasn't able to put his personal stamp on the role. I personally don't think he was bad in SUICIDE SQUAD, he just simply didn't have enough to do in the film.

Would YOU like to see more of Jared Leto's Joker?