‘Suicide Squad:’ David Ayer Takes On Criticism Of Harley Quinn’s Character Arc

Since the release of Suicide Squad in 2016, director David Ayer has commented on things that he would have done differently, such as making Jared Leto’s Joker the main antagonist. Could have, would have, should have, and like Justice League, many hope to see Ayer’s original vision of Suicide Squad instead of the slightly longer extended cut of the DC film. David Ayer has responded to fans on Twitter on occasion when they come with questions or comments about the film, which brings us to today’s story revolving around Harley Quinn.

There’s no doubt a lot of Joker and Harley Quinn stuff left on the cutting room floor, but this conversation actually goes way to March of this year. In a thread on Twitter that began with David Ayer explaining Joker’s plans to take Harley Quinn home, one user responded that they would have enjoyed the film more were it about Harley learning to “love her new friends” in the Suicide Squad. Yes, the friends forced into Task Force X under the threat of death by their god, Amanda Waller.

Another user was not having that, so they responded with the retort that Harley Quinn only knew her newfound Suicide Squad chums for a day, as they were forced to do Waller’s bidding. To this user, Harley Quinn would betray them in an instant if it meant reuniting with her beloved Mister J, as was the case in Assault on Arkham, the animated DC film from about four years ago. And then today, David Ayer retweeted this with his input, saying that this was exactly correct, as you can see:

And indeed, by the end of the film, Harley Quinn is freed by the Joker. Where she ultimately ends up and how her relationship with him changes by then remains to be seen, though perhaps we’ll find out the answer to that in Birds of Prey. But David Ayer’s confirmation that Harley Quinn would, in fact, turn on the Squad for the sake of the Joker shows that, as indicated, there’s more to her character arc than viewers saw in the film itself.

The conversation itself doesn’t exactly end there. In response to his response, David Ayer stated that yes, Harley Quinn’s character arc was vastly simplified, as the film we got vastly differs from its original cut, as is the case with many films. But David Ayer didn’t blame the studio, though. As one user noted, studio decisions can often trump a director’s vision. While directors are seen as the ones who make the call, they may not have the absolute final word with the product. But the key thing to note is they do not discuss that:

And indeed, Ayer does not seem to have any ill will towards the studio. And while he did indicate long ago that he had his sights set on Gotham City Sirens, it remains to be seen what will come of that. What did you think of Harley Quinn’s character arc in Suicide Squad? And what do you make of David Ayer’s response to what Harley would do for Joker? Let us know in the comments below.

Directed by David Ayer, Suicide Squad was released in 2016 and starred Cara Delevingne, Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, and Scott Eastwood. The film is available now on Digital HD, 4K, Blu-Ray, and DVD.

Source: Twitter