In the years since the release of 2016's Suicide Squad, most fans have been campaigning to release David Ayer's cut of the movie, known to be the "Ayer Cut." This movement came after Ayer revealed that Warner Bros. interfered with his vision for the movie, leading to altering a significant portion of it.
While the DCEU filmmaker has publicly thrown his support for the Ayer Cut movement, Warner Bros. appears to be not committed to releasing the director's cut anytime soon. Despite that, The Suicide Squad director James Gunn revealed that there's a chance that the cut would be released.
Now, while the Ayer Cut movement has been silent, the buzz surrounding its release could emerge once again after a fun Easter egg from one of HBO Max's DC series.
Harley Quinn Season 3 Has an Ayer Cut Easter Egg
Harley Quinn showrunner Patrick Schumacker revealed the animated show's Easter egg tied to the Release the Ayer Cut movement.
During Episode 2 of Season 3, Batman and Robin can be seen inside the Batcave with the Batcomputer in the background.
A closer look at the Batcomputer's desktop shows different folders, with one of them showcasing what appears to be the famous Ayer Cut of the 2016 DCEU movie. Other folders include "Bat Taxes," "Robin's Homework," and "Bat Nipples Concepts."
During San Diego Comic-Con, Schumacker addressed the following Easter egg in an exclusive interview with CinemaBlend:
"There’s a scene in the Batcave where on the Batcomputer, we have the sort of traditional desktop with folders, and it’s kind of a blink-and-you-miss-it thing, but if you do pause, there’s some interesting stuff on that setup, Batman might have a copy of the Ayer Cut."
In the same interview, Schumaker and fellow Harley Quinn showrunner Justin Halpern admitted that they would like to see the Ayer Cut be released someday.
Aside from the Ayer Cut Easter egg, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker director James Gunn is also set to have a presence in Harley Quinn Season 3. When asked if the showrunners considered adding DCEU filmmaker Zack Snyder into the mix, Schumacker confirmed that the director's name was "bandied about in the room," but ultimately, they chose Gunn instead:
"His name was bandied about in the room for sure, but we knew James was a fan of the show. We thought it would be funny, given James’ body of work, to portray him in this show as someone trying to go a little more, I don’t know, awards cinema-kind of thing. He’s pivoting a bit. I DM’ed him one day knowing that he’d been touting our show on Twitter. Very kind of him, he’s got a lot of followers. And I was like, ‘Hey, are you interested in playing yourself? Here’s the deal, this is the movie you’d be directing.’ It shocked me, within 15 minutes, he was like, ‘Yeah, I’m in! Here’s my rep’s info.’ And then we recorded for like an hour with him. He was up in Vancouver shooting Peacemaker. I got to direct him, which was crazy. It was super fun."
Will Warner Bros. Release the Ayer Cut?
This latest Easter egg could simply be a fun nod to the Ayer Cut movement, but there's a chance that Harley Quinn's showrunners placed it in the episode to earn enough buzz for both the series and the fans' grassroots campaign. However, many would agree that this Easter egg is not enough to convince Warner Bros. to release the famous director's cut of Suicide Squad.
Still, it's fitting that this Ayer Cut reference is included in a show about Harley Quinn, especially after it was revealed that the DC anti-hero was set to have more scenes in the director's cut, which includes being involved in an extended opening sequence.
At this point, it seems that the hype for the Ayer Cut has slowly died down over the past year. As a result, the chances of it actually being released anytime soon are unknown.
Meanwhile, Zack Snyder's involvement in Harley Quinn would've been a welcome development, but unfortunately, it didn't come to fruition. If Harley Quinn is renewed for Season 4, it's possible that the showrunners would consider bringing Snyder in again, but for now, the most-talked-about DCEU filmmaker is still set to have an animated presence in the Teen Titans Go! series.
Harley Quinn Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max.
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