Monday afternoon, David Ayer dropped a tweet featuring Black Mask, but it wasn’t just any tweet with Black Mask. It’s ripped right from the comics with Black Mask saying, “I heard. It’s just this street stuff. It’s not worth my time.”
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) February 27, 2017
Since he dropped the tweet, speculation has run wild that he may have just revealed the new villain for his upcoming Suicide Squad spinoff project featuring the Gotham City Sirens with Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman.
Fans responded with mix reactions. Some were super excited about the prospect of Roman Sionis making his way onto the big screen while others were not so much.
— Guilherme Milano (@gmilano7) February 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/R_Muller91/status/836380656712187904
https://twitter.com/BChase81/status/836378157276098561
https://twitter.com/xTw1s7x/status/836379828202921984
Others just wanted to know exactly what this cryptic could mean:
https://twitter.com/xTw1s7x/status/836379828202921984
@TheLuizRole what does this mean
— 🇧🇷 (@ThatSpiceJoe) February 28, 2017
The image comes from Doug Mahnke, Shane Davis, Eric Battle, and Judd Winick’s 2006 Under the Red Hood storyline. The story sees a newly resurrected Jason Todd wage war on Black Mask’s criminal empire. He ruthlessly kills a number of his employees forcing Batman to intervene.
Here’s the full page for some context:
During Suicide Squad, Ayer was an active participant on social media showcasing plot direction and character development.
However, given this quote and the complete and utter negative fan reaction to Suicide Squad winning an Oscar, it’s quite possible this is how he responding.
It is interesting that Ayer uses Black Mask just a few days after Vincent D’Onofrio teased he might head to DC if Marvel goes silent. Black Mask and Kingpin sure do have some similarities despite the physical difference.
What do you think? Is this in response to negative Oscar reaction? Is this new villain for his Gotham City Sirens Project? Or something else entirely?