*WARNING! DANGER! SPOILERS AHEAD*
Okay, given how SUICIDE SQUAD has come out I think we should all be big enough to admit that the film will, like BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN, go down as being received with so-so reception. The critics on the whole hated it, and fan consensus has been pretty “good-not-great” so far. What a lot people seem to agree on is that the film seemed disjointed and poorly cut together, among many other things. Although director David Ayer has come out and defended the movie, many are hoping that an R-rated, extended cut would be brought to light.
Well, if these rumors from a Reddit user (via Collider) are true, then not only are there a bunch of deleted scenes, but if included on the film’s Blu-ray release, could completely change the outlook of the film by disappointed viewers.
The list of scenes hints at much more screen time for basically every character in the movie, including everyone from Slipknot (Adam Beach) to Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). The reasons for cutting these scenes are most likely time and rating related, as much of them probably would’ve pushed the movie into R-rated territory.
Here’s a description of the scenes below!
- “In early cuts, the movie’s opening detailed June Moon’s possession by Enchantress in real time. Reshoots reshuffled the scene to be later in the movie in flashback form in favour of a new opening centered on Deadshot.”
- “Deadshot in the prison cell, watching the rain fall and thinking about his daughter.”
- “El Diablo observing the flame of a lit match, before putting it out due to his vow to no longer use his powers.”
- “El Diablo being escorted to a training center by being placed in a tube that fills with water to quell his flames, and then unceremoniously dropped onto the ground.”
- “Early interviews showed Captain Boomerang’s racism and sexism, but the movie is light on examples of such behavior, which have apparently been deleted. Most of them were reportedly directed at Katana, to whom Boomerang is attracted to.”
- “Early reports indicated more backstory for Killer Croc, revealing that he entire life as a social outcast due to his physical appearance and has convinced himself that he is beautiful in his own way. Croc crossed paths with Batman while working as muscle-for-hire for numerous Gotham’s crime bosses, while secretly planning to take over one day. There were also scenes displaying his affinity for making sculptures out of discarded materials. Aside from jokes about Croc viewing himself as ‘beautiful,’ one of these were retained in the final cut.”
- “Also deleted was a scene where he becomes sick at the helicopter escort to Midway City, throws up half-digested pieces of goat, and then eats them again, disgusting the nearby Navy Seals.”
- “Early cuts reportedly included a passing reference to Slipknot being serial rapist, likely to further paint him as unsympathetic to the audience ahead of his own death.”
- “More scenes of Rick Flag and June Moon’s romantic relationship, including him reading the files of the Suicide Squad recruits after Waller delivers them to him.”
- “Another scene where Flag and Moon are out on a date.”
- “Extended scene of Joker interrogating Captain Griggs, including the line, “I can’t wait to show you my toys,” which was in every trailer, but was removed from the movie.”
- “Joker and his men escaping after shooting up a restaurant. Harley, who is already affiliated with the Joker, follows them on a motorcycle and intercepts their car. Joker bangs his head against the glass in frustration.”
- “Joker and Harley then get into a fight, which ends with Harley pointing a gun at Joker’s head. Joker sweet-talks Harley into lowering the gun, charming her, then backhands her across the face. Afterwards he sweet-talks her again and they kiss.”
- “Extended Ace Chemicals scene where Harley jumps into the chemicals. More bits of dialogue from Joker.”
- “Extended Batmobile chase scene with more interaction between Joker and Harley. One of the examples, presented in all the trailers, is the Joker punching the roof of his car.”
- “Harley using her baseball bat as a mock gun to play shoot at invisible foes.”
- “Extended scene of Joker breaking into the nanobomb manufacture facility to arrange for Harley’s neck-bomb to be disabled.”
- “More interactions between Harley and Boomerang. Early cuts apparently included her really disliking him despite growing affectionate to all the other members of the squad.”
- “Extended bar scene with Harley taking everyone’s orders. Deadshot calls for a shot, Katana wants whiskey, Croc and Boomerang settle for beer, Harley asks Diablo wants and he prefers water which she jokes, “is a good idea.” The scene was featured in the trailers, but in the movie it cuts directly to Deadshot’s speech about them all almost pulling the mission off.”
- “Removed several scenes with the Joker to repaint his relationship with Harley as more loving rather than abusive.”
- “Joker and Harley get into an argument after he rescues her in the hijacked helicopter. In early cuts he reportedly pushes her out to kill her, then the helicopter gets shot down. This was apparently reworked into the helicopter getting shot down first and Joker pushing her out to save her.”
- “Joker returns during the final battle in the subway station, face half-burnt from the helicopter crash, which apparently leads to a brief altercation with the Squad. He calls for Harley to escape with him but she refuses for once in order to help her friends, and the Joker escapes after throwing a live grenade at the group to cover his own escape.”
Meanwhile, David Ayer spoke to Collider in a seperate interview about the theatrical version being his cut of the movie, saying there was not some "parallel verison of the movie":
We have a chunk, there’s definitely over 10 minutes of material on there. But 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 that’s one of the toughest things about writing, shooting, and directing a film, is you end up with these orphans and you fucking love them and you think they’d be amazing scenes and do these amazing things but the film is a dictatorship (laughs), not a democracy, and just because something’s cool and charismatic doesn’t mean it gets to survive in the final cut. The flow of the movie is the highest master.”
Though the last scene in the list corresponds with the above image, these are just rumored scenes and there’s no accompanying news that, if true, these would be put into an extended cut, but they’re sure fun to read. Well, some of them are. Some, like the scene that hints at Slipknot being a serial rapist, can probably stay on the cutting floor. But, hey, if they aren't real, bravo to the guy who came up with them all. That's some serious dedication and time-management skills.
Either way, I am not a part of the party that thinks just making something longer makes it better. The only series to truly have a definitive, extended cut is LORD OF THE RINGS, and most movies’ extended cuts only slightly improve on their original if at all. But though I doubt these above scenes will actually be made into an extended cut, I do think watching them as deleted scenes on a Blu-ray would be fun. Some holes—like where one person was during this point and this one during this point—would be filled, but who’s to say the movie would still flow better? I guess only time will tell whether we will see these scenes or not. At least we have WONDER WOMAN to look forward to in that time. Pray to whatever god you believe in that one isn’t strike three.