Movies

Suicide Squad Director David Ayer Takes The Blame For Joker's Stupid 'Damaged' Tattoo

Jared Leto in Suicide Squad Warner Bros.
By Joe Roberts/

Ever since 2016's "Suicide Squad" debuted to impressive box office returns but truly abject reviews, director David Ayer has seemingly been on an extended apology tour. He previously apologized for how Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn was portrayed, and even took full responsibility for the theatrical cut of the film following its release.

But the narrative has since shifted. Now, there is a significant movement to release the so-called "Ayer cut," of which the director himself has been publicly supportive. It all stems from the revelation that Warner Bros. stepped in to reshoot and recut "Suicide Squad" prior to its release following poor test screenings, adding some levity to the dark tone Ayer had worked hard to establish with his take on Task Force X. The resulting film was a bewilderingly muddled affair that couldn't quite figure out what it was trying to be. But the "Ayer cut" was supposedly much more focused. It has yet to see the light of day, so we're unable to judge for ourselves.

In the meantime, while WB has emerged as the villain of this story, Ayer nonetheless has continued his apology tour, most recently taking responsibility for a particularly controversial element of the film's Joker. Somehow, in a plot that involved a witch summoning an inter-dimensional evil which threatened to wipe out the human race, "Suicide Squad" also had time to introduce a whole new Joker in the form of Jared Leto's divisive take on the Clown Prince of Crime. This iteration of the character, though not without his fans, has since become known as, at best anticlimactic, and at worst ... well, let's not go there. And it seems this is one area where WB isn't entirely to blame.

Ayer regrets Joker's ink

Jared Leto in Suicide Squad Warner Bros.

Though he initially took responsibility for the version of "Suicide Squad" that made $746 million worldwide but enraged a whole generation of DC fans, David Ayer has since blasted the 2016 cut. But, as mentioned, that doesn't mean he's above accepting responsibility where appropriate. Case in point: Jared Leto's Joker and his tattoos.

When the first image of Leto as Joker debuted prior to "Suicide Squad" being released, responses ranged from confused to outraged. As we at /Film commented at the time, "He's got the sort of laughter you might see stylized by a comic book letterer actually tattooed on his body. Is this guy a maniac, or an edgy model with a burgeoning Instagram following?" The major point of contention did indeed seem to be the tattoos, with the word "damaged" on Joker's forehead coming across as particularly on the nose. At the time, Ayer provided a backstory for the "damaged" ink, explaining that the infamous rogue had it done in Arkham Asylum after being beaten and captured by Batman, who had also knocked out the villain's teeth, hence the silver grill and tat.

But the director has since stopped making excuses for this almost universally disliked feature of Leto's Joker. Ayer tweeted in response to a fan (via Entertainment Weekly), saying the he "own[ed] the tattoo idea 100%" and claiming that he regrets it in hindsight.

"It was my choice," the tweet says. "Original idea is it would say 'Blessed' and not 'Damaged'. Now having said that — I regret that decision. It created acrimony and division. Not every idea is a good idea. And I'll just be in the corner here while the internet slaps me around for this post."

Surprisingly, the comments are actually full of people who seemed to either like or weren't too bothered by the tattoo, which raises the question of where these people were back in 2016.

Will we ever see the Ayer cut?

Jared Leto in Suicide Squad Warner Bros.

If nothing else, the latest development in David Ayer's apology tour at least prompted yet further confirmation that his "Suicide Squad" cut differs dramatically from the theatrical version. The director responded to a commenter, claiming that his movie is "VASTLY different" to what audiences saw back in 2016. That obviously remains to be seen, but as reported by Variety, the new co-head of DC Studios, James Gunn, is fully behind eventually releasing the Ayer cut.

"Studio cut was commercially successful, made incredible box office," Ayer tweeted about "Suicide Squad." "And spawned numerous follow on films. My issue is there is a VASTLY different version to be enjoyed and shared with the world. You would be shocked at how profoundly different and more playable my cut is."

Was "Suicide Squad" good? No. Is there a better version? Maybe. As far as I'm concerned, the man who wrote "Training Day" can do no wrong — unless you count the embarrassment that was "Bright" — so I'd be as intrigued as Gunn to see what Ayer had in mind before WB stepped in.

Whatever edit awaits us, it will of course still feature a tattooed Joker, and there's not much Ayer can do about that. But it's well known there was a lot more to Jared Leto's version of the villain that was left on the cutting room floor, so perhaps the tattoos will be easier to stomach with more of a backstory. Hopefully Gunn finds time between prepping for "Superman: Legacy" and making inexplicably misguided promises about the future of his DC universe to unearth the original "Suicide Squad."

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