Jared Leto is in full support for a director's cut of 2016's Suicide Squad and he would be more than happy to return for reshoots as the Joker if David Ayer had the opportunity to see his definitive cut of the film released.
Leto spoke with "Variety" and when the Ayer Cut was brought up in response to Zack Snyder seeing his Justice League cut coming to HBO Max this year, the actor said he would be on board for seeing what Ayer's original vision for the project would have looked like:
"I would love for David Ayer to be able to work on that and make the film of his dreams. It's always hard when you make these movies because it's such a pressure cooker. There are so many decisions that have to be made in a short amount of time. My hat's off to the directors, the producers, and the studios. It's not easy. You never start with something that's perfect. It's a race to try to make it as good as you can in a short amount of time. And having another swing at things? I'm sure we all can use that."
It makes sense that Leto would be on board for a potential Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad because his turn as Joker was a major selling point in the film's marketing but in the final cut of the film, Leto is essentially a glorified cameo compared to the other major roles in the film. Ayer has admitted that a lot of Leto's stuff was cut and he has never seemed too happy about that fact. Ayer took to Twitter at one point and stated "Jared was pretty mistreated during this. No one has seen his performance. It was ripped out of the movie."
Leto's take on the Joker became the center of attention in large part because of the strange tales of extreme method acting that the actor reportedly indulged in while on set. There were stories that he sent his co-stars boxes of condoms to gifting Margot Robbie, who played his love-interest Harley Quinn, a live rat. Leto has always been a bit known for being a method actor and Leto explains that his reasons are purely to service his job as a performer:
"I appreciate the term [method acting], I think it's a little cloudy, the definition. And it, it could also be really pretentious as well. I was thinking of it as my job to show up and do the best work that I can. It's my job to show up, do whatever I can, to be over prepared. And to deliver. It's also my job to show up and, you know, be a pleasure to work with. And, and, and, and to be collaborative, and to have a good experience on set."
If Jared Leto did step back into the role of Joker for the Ayer Cut he would be no stranger to doing so. The actor will next show up as the character in Zack Snyder's Justice League, although it's unclear how big or small his appearance will be. My take on Leto's Joker is that I didn't really get to see him do enough to give a proper review of his performance. Overall, he seemed fine in the part but you can tell that a lot of his material ended up on the cutting room floor. I'd be curious to see what was "ripped from the movie" as David Ayer said but, as of now, the Ayer Cut is just something the fans of the film want and there are no plans for a release, even though Ayer says it's something that can be done very quickly.
Would YOU want to see Jared Leto return in a Suicide Squad Ayer Cut?