David Ayer claims that Jared Leto was ''mistreated'' in 'Suicide Squad'.

The 52-year-old filmmaker helmed the 2016 superhero movie with Leto portraying the iconic villain, although his performance was blasted by critics who questioned his lack of involvement in the flick.

However, David has claimed that Jared's performance was ''ripped out'' of the film.

Replying to a Twitter post campaigning for Jared to play the Joker again, Ayer tweeted: ''Jared was pretty mistreated during this. No one has seen his performance. It was ripped out of the movie.''

The 'Bright' director has previously expressed regret that the Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman did not feature more in the DC Extended Universe movie.

He recently wrote: ''For sure character creation is a tightrope. I took inspiration from the current DC comics.

''I find it incredible it's still such a topic five years later. My heart breaks for Jared - he did magnificent work. Most of it remains unseen.''

David recently claimed that 'Suicide Squad' was beaten into a comedy but the studio in response to the success of 'Deadpool', which stars Ryan Reynolds as a wise-cracking superhero.

In response to comments about the 'Suicide Squad' trailer, David explained on Twitter: ''This trailer nailed the tone and intention of the film I made. Methodical. Layered. Complex, beautiful and sad. After the BVS reviews shell shocked the leadership at the time, and the success of Deadpool - My soulful drama was beaten into a ''comedy'' (sic)''.

He also confessed that making the movie, which also starred Will Smith and Margot Robbie, was a ''tough experience''.

He said: ''I got some supercharged muscles on 'Suicide Squad', from making a film so big, but it was a rough experience. A tough experience. It became a bit of a slog at the end.

''It was an incredible financial success but I got flayed by the critics and that's scary, that's painful. And it shook my confidence as a storyteller.''