Suicide Squad director says he will “definitely” return to comic book movies

He helmed the Will Smith action film, which released back in 2016 to negative reviews but a strong box office gross of nearly $750 million.

A sequel is currently in the works from Guardians of the Galaxy's James Gunn, which features several new cast members and is rumoured to be lighter in tone.

Ayer told Slash Film that he was given the option to return to the world of Suicide Squad but decided to work on other projects instead.

"I had a chance to do [the sequel], but I went another way. I love the world creation of it and I love the power of the IP and the fans. It’s dangerous. It’s like juggling chainsaws, but I am drawn to it and it’s definitely an arena I’ll play in again," he said.

Ayer also gave an update on another DC Comics film he was involved in, Gotham City Sirens. The film would have starred Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn on a team of supervillains rumoured to include Poison Ivy and Catwoman.

"I think it’s on pause," Ayer said of the project, which has likely been held back to make way for February's Birds of Prey, a different Harley Quinn film with a similar concept.

Birds of Prey will see Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Fargo) and Jurnee Smollett-Bell (True Blood) star opposite Robbie as the vigilantes Huntress and Black Canary.

Ayer is also working on a sequel to his Netflix film Bright, which starred Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as police officers in a world inhabited by fantasy creatures.

"Still in development. We’re working on it so hopefully we’ll be able to mount that up soon," he said.

Ayer's next release is a crime thriller called The Tax Collector starring Transformers actor Shia LeBeouf.