The DC Extended Universe is a fascinating place, with a history of victories and missteps. Warner Bros. struggled to get the shared universe off the ground at first, with movies like David Ayer's Suicide Squad failing to connect with audiences. The director has been open about how studio interference altered his vision for the blockbuster, with plenty of concepts ending up on the cutting room floor. Jared Leto's Joker was severely cut down, and now Ayer has answered a rumor about his interaction with Harley on the helicopter.
About halfway through Suicide Squad, Joker shows up to rescue Harley from her mission with Task Force X. They briefly reunite, although the vehicle is shot out of the sky. But it was also reported that Joker originally pushed Margot Robbie's signature character out of the helicopter, possibly in an attempt to kill her. David Ayer was recently asked about this lingering Suicide Squad question, to which he responded:
He pushed her. But not to kill her.
Well, thats delightfully cryptic. It looks like those rumors about Joker and Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad were half true. Because while Jared Leto's villain did originally push her from the helicopter, it wasn't in an attempt to kill her. So what were his true plans? Was he trying to rescue her from the vehicle's imminent destruction?
David Ayer shared his brief but intriguing thoughts over on his personal Twitter page. The filmmaker regularly uses social media to directly communicate with DC fans, and open up about what it was like working on Suicide Squad. These tidbits of information tease what the movie could have been, and have even led some to urge Warner Bros. to #ReleaseTheAyerCut.
Since Suicide Squad hit theaters in 2016, David Ayer has expressed his frustration about the movie's theatrical cut, particularly related to Joker and Harley. Jared Leto's character was barely in the movie, while Ayer expressed that Harley's story was "eviscerated", including a love triangle with Deadshot. These changes even extended to the helicopter rescue scene, which saw Harley choose Mr. J over her new family unit on the team.
As a reminder, you can see the scene in question below, albeit lacking any pushing.
As you can see, this version of the scene has Joker very much interested in holding onto Harley Quinn. But when their helicopter is shot out of the sky, she accidentally falls through the door. After this turn of events Harley assumes that Joker might be dead, and re-joins her team for Suicide Squad's third act.
Joker wouldn't appear again until the tail end of Suicide Squad, when he breaks Harley out of Belle Reve. Overall the character ended up as an afterthought of the theatrical cut, rather than intimately connected to the plot. There's no indication as to when Jared Leto might return to the role, with Birds of Prey excluding the character and Joaquin Phoenix winning an Oscar for his Joker movie set outside the DCEU.
The next installment in the DCEU is Wonder Woman 1984 on October 2nd. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
