‘Suicide Squad’ Star Jai Courtney Denies Rumors of Reshoots to Make the Movie ‘Funnier’

Not long after the negative reviews and underwhelming box office returns for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice began rolling in, so did some interesting reports from Warner Bros. One of those reports suggested that David Ayer is doing some reshoots on Suicide Squad to make the film more humorous — a direct response to criticisms of Zack Snyder’s bleak superhero epic. According to Jai Courtney, who plays Captain Boomerang in the upcoming anti-hero team-up, that’s not accurate…but it’s also what you might expect him to say.

Reshoots are pretty normal for every major film, and directors and studios tend to build in additional time for them after principal production. Marvel does this all the time. But with all the negative buzz around Batman v Superman and the fairly consistent critique that Snyder’s film was too dark and humorless and, ultimately, not fun to watch, Suicide Squad’s reshoots are suddenly more notable than usual.

Although reports have suggested that Ayer is going back in to add some humor to a film that should definitely be more fun than Batman v Superman, Courtney denied this in his chat with Entertainment Weekly:

I think there’s plenty of [humor] in it. I wouldn’t say we’re going back to make it funnier, there’s some additional action stuff that we’ve been doing, which is pretty dope. Really we’re just kind of adding in that sense.

Additional action is the kind of thing a movie like this usually adds in reshoots, so Courtney probably isn’t being entirely dishonest here, but the timing of the reshoot reports coupled with rumors that WB and Ayer want to make the movie “funnier” is awfully curious.

And it’s not as though Suicide Squad doesn’t already look more entertaining and humorous than Batman v Superman — the trailers certainly suggest moments of levity and dark humor in Ayer’s grimy super-villain team-up. Even Jai Courtney looks fairly charming, and he’s typically as bland as a bottle of paste.

But the overwhelming complaint about Batman v Superman (and the concern for the Justice League universe moving forward) is that it’s just not fun to watch. And there’s definitely a way to make a movie that’s darker and edgier, but still fun. If Ayer manages to deliver a Suicide Squad that’s both gritty and entertaining, maybe WB should consider upping his involvement in their DC superhero franchise overall.

Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 5.