David Ayer’s creative choices for 2016’s Suicide Squad continue to haunt him, especially his decision to ink Jared Leto‘s Joker with the “Damaged” tattoo on his forehead. Though the director has addressed his regret on multiple occasions for going a tad overboard in inking the clown prince of crime – he has once again clarified its purpose was “joker trolling Batman”.
The Ayer Cut movement has lately been forging ahead since the director offered a ray of hope for its potential future release under James Gunn‘s DC Studios. Since then, the Fury director has also remained quite active on Twitter answering questions related to the comic book movie genre, in general, while also setting the record straight on misconceptions about Suicide Squad which Ayer continues to argue was a mess due to studio intervention.
One such fan quizzed David Ayer on “why the forehead tattoo?” for Joker. The director offered a simple answer that it was Joker’s way to troll Batman “after getting his teeth punched in by him”. However, David agrees it is the “one aesthetic choice” he regrets. Readers can check it out below.
David Ayer wishes he “hadn’t made” Joker with the “damaged” tattoo ink for Suicide Squad
For the uninitiated folks, The helmer addressed in 2018 that Joker got the “Damaged” tattoo after getting his teeth knocked in by Batman for killing Jason Todd. But knowing Joker’s twisted mind – Ayer felt the clown prince of crime inked it with the intent meant for Batman.
It was Joker trolling Batman after getting his teeth punched in by him. It’s the one aesthetic choice I wish I hadn’t made. Caught a lot of smoke for it obviously. https://t.co/T7T3XS6oDQ
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) March 10, 2023
David Ayer has been candid about his desire to even position Jared Leto’s Joker as the main villain if he gets the chance to rework Suicide Squad to release his director’s cut edition. Though Warner Bros. Pictures’ current focus would be on Todd Philips‘ Joker: Folie à Deux and DCU’s main timeline titles. Nonetheless, it seems the window for Ayer cut to see the light remains open, possibly under the Elseworld brand.
Suicide Squad fans have long stood by the film’s iteration of Joker, a character that was briefly reprised by Jared Leto in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The long-haired design of the clown prince of crime did not appear to have any tattoos including the Damaged ink. It remains to be seen if Ayer may also get the chance to rectify the design choice in the future.
