Jared Leto was very vocal about his disappointment with the theatrical cut of Suicide Squad, which featured a whole seven minutes of his hugely anticipated (but poorly received) interpretation of The Joker.
Back in August, Leto told BBC Radio 1’s Edith Bowman that enough footage was left on the cutting floor for an entire standalone Joker movie. And while this may not exactly be what he had in mind, we get a chance to see more of Leto’s unhinged performance in the Suicide Squad extended edition DVD.
A new TV spot for the director’s cut features Leto once again doing his best Heath Ledger impersonation to varying degrees of success. Despite the uproar over Leto and director David Ayer’s interpretation of The Joker—since when does Batman’s arch nemesis shop at Hot Topic?—Leto’s performance was the best part of Suicide Squad, which, let’s be honest, isn’t saying much.
At the time of the film’s release, Ayer made it pretty clear that the version released in theaters would be the only version fans would ever get a chance to see, despite there being “six or seven different versions of the film."
We can only guess that Ayer and Warner Bros. changed their mind after the film was savaged by critics, similar to what happened with Batman v Superman, whose extended, R-rated cut was far better received than the original version. It’s an interesting strategy for a studio that’s had a tough time reaching the same creative heights achieved by their rivals over at Marvel. But hey, if they want to keep releasing different versions of the same movie until one of them fits, be our guests. Especially if that means more of the Crown Prince of Crime.
