Suicide Squad Star Thought Ayer Cut Had Actually Been Announced

Karen Fukuhara, who played Katana in 2016's Suicide Squad, says a fan-made poster was so convincing she thought the Ayer Cut had been officially announced. Production on the movie, directed by David Ayer, was infamously troubled. Aside from having to deal with Jared Leto in character as The Joker, Ayer was contending with a studio that didn't know what it wanted from the movie. Initially seen as a much darker entry in the DC Extended Universe, Warner Bros. made changes, including extensive reshoots, that resulted in a confusing film that had wild shifts in tone from dark to humorous.

Suicide Squad ended up being critically panned, and a sequel from Ayer, featuring Will Smith returning as Deadshot, was scrapped. James Gunn was eventually hired to direct the upcoming reboot/sequel, which only retains a few key members of Ayer's cast. In recent months, Ayer has spoken out on Twitter about the difficulties he faced when making Suicide Squad and has teased his cut of the movie, in much the same way Zack Snyder did with Justice League. While the latter got his wish, with the Snyder Cut due to be released on HBO Max in 2021, there has been no word on the so-called Ayer Cut, despite the director himself saying it would be an easy task to complete.

Now, Fukuhara has told Radio Times that when she saw a fan-made poster for the Ayer Cut in May, she was fooled for a second into thinking it had been announced. The actor, who is currently starring in Amazon's Superhero series The Boys as The Female/Kimiko, says she had to google the Ayer Cut to make sure it wasn't real. She ended up posting the fan poster on her Instagram account, saying how awesome it looked. You can read her comments, and see the poster that caused the confusion, below.

I’ve also seen that circulate around and I even posted one of the fan posters for it [The Ayer Cut]. It looked really legit, I thought it was real for a second and I went on Google to make sure that it wasn’t out yet! I always support more Katana because I love her, but I personally have never seen The Ayer Cut before at all, so I don’t know what it would have been like. Obviously, the original script was a little bit different. It’s hard to say because we all worked so hard on the movie and we had such a fun time filming it. Maybe it should be left untouched, but at the same time I’m intrigued. So, I don’t know, it’s both sides of the coin I guess.

While Fukuhara's story is funny, it's also a little sad. Her role in the theatrical cut of the movie was drastically reduced, according to Ayer. The character is barely fleshed out beyond the audience being told her "sword traps the souls of its victims." According to Ayer, Katana would have played a pivotal role in his version, being possessed by The Enchantress and attacking the rest of the Suicide Squad.

Unfortunately, fans didn't get to see Ayer's original version on screen, for better or worse, and are left to wonder what might have been. From Fukuhara's comments, it's clear that she'd support the release of the Ayer Cut, even if she won't say so outright. And who could blame her? If most of her role in the Suicide Squad was left on the cutting room floor, she's doubtless keen to see the hard work she put into the film back on the big screen. At the moment, it seems like the closest she'll get to that, though, will be the fan poster she shared in May.

Next: Karen Fukuhara & Tomer Capon Interview: The Boys Season 2

Source: Radio Times