Fictional character
Amanda Waller
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Viola Davis as Amanda Waller in
Suicide Squad
(2016)
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First appearance
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Last appearance
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Based on
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Adapted by
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Portrayed by
| Viola Davis
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Full name
| Amanda Waller
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Occupation
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Affiliation
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Family
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Amanda Waller
is a fictional character in the
DC Extended Universe
(DCEU) and later the
DC Universe
(DCU)
media franchise
. She is portrayed by
Viola Davis
and is based on the
DC Comics
character
of the same name
. A morally ambiguous character as portrayed in the comics, Waller is a ruthless, calculating government official who oversees the operations of the
Suicide Squad
, tasking them with deadly missions.
As of 2023, the character is a major recurring figure in the DCEU, appearing in the films
Suicide Squad
(2016), its standalone sequel
The Suicide Squad
(2021), and
Black Adam
(2022) with an uncredited cameo, as well as the first season of the television series
Peacemaker
(2022?present).
Following the events of
The Flash
, in which
Barry Allen
reboots
most of the DCEU,
[1]
the character is set to be integrated into the rebooted continuity of the succeeding
DC Universe
(DCU) media franchise, and will return in both the animated mini-series
Creature Commandos
, and the live-action series
Waller
, which she will be the latter show's title main protagonist.
Character development and execution
[
edit
]
Comics origins and prior portrayals
[
edit
]
In the comics,
Amanda Waller
first appeared in the 1980s as a Congressional aide who is placed in charge of the
Suicide Squad
, with her role and characteristics varying with publication changes such as
The New 52
. Waller has often been featured in other media based on DC Comics, with voice actresses
CCH Pounder
,
Sheryl Lee Ralph
, and
Tisha Campbell
voicing the character in cartoons and animated films such as
Justice League Unlimited
,
Young Justice
, the
DC Animated Movie Universe
, and
Harley Quinn
,
[2]
[3]
as well as being portrayed in live action by
Pam Grier
in
Smallville
,
[4]
Cynthia Addai-Robinson
in the
Arrowverse
,
[5]
and
Angela Bassett
in the film
Green Lantern
.
[6]
Casting in the DCEU
[
edit
]
Actress
Viola Davis
was cast to play Waller in
Suicide Squad
, which is set in the
DC Extended Universe
. Davis stated of her character: "She's a strategist. She’s a manipulator. She doesn’t fly in the sky or swim in the water. She's just a regular person who can manipulate these superheroes. And I love that."
[7]
She also singled out her psychology and strength and described her as a "powerful black woman, hard, ready to pick up a gun and shoot anyone at will,"
[8]
in addition to "relentless in her villainy" and noted that her powers are "her intelligence and her complete lack of guilt."
[9]
Davis read
Confessions of a Sociopath
in order to prepare for the role.
[9]
She stated that her experience working on the film was unique for her, as director
David Ayer
and other cast members utilized unorthodox acting techniques during filming. In one instance, Ayer made her call
Rick Flag
actor
Joel Kinnaman
a "pussy" and "bitch", which as she described, made her "feel like a straight up thug, and it made Rick Flag want to kick my ass. So David got what he wanted." Kinnaman later confirmed he felt "betrayed" by Davis' words, but that it was what Ayer wanted his character to feel at that moment.
[7]
In a later interview, she said that during the early stages of filming,
Joker
actor
Jared Leto
had a "henchman" leave a dead
pig
on a table in the rehearsal room, unsettling Davis until she "snapped out of it" and used the incident to motivate her own performance, and that Leto had also given
Margot Robbie
, who portrayed
Harley Quinn
, a live
black rat
in a box. Davis commented that Robbie "screamed, and then she kept it."
[10]
[11]
Davis reprised the role in
The Suicide Squad
,
Peacemaker
, and
Black Adam
.
[12]
She has also entered talks to star in an HBO Max series centered on her character.
[13]
Fictional character biography
[
edit
]
DC Extended Universe
[
edit
]
Creating Task Force X
[
edit
]
Amanda Waller is introduced in
Suicide Squad
as an
FBI
official in charge of A.R.G.U.S.. She is shown to be in contact with vigilantes such as
Bruce Wayne / Batman
, to whom she provides intelligence in order for him to apprehend criminals such as
Floyd Lawton / Deadshot
. Following the death of
Superman
,
[a]
Waller, concerned that the "next Superman" may not "share his moral code," creates Task Force X, later known as the "
Suicide Squad
", by enlisting incarcerated metahumans and other extraordinary criminals such as Deadshot,
Harley Quinn
,
Captain Boomerang
,
El Diablo
, and
Killer Croc
. She also attempts to enlist
June Moon / Enchantress
and
Slipknot
, but Enchantress goes rogue and creates a global threat while Slipknot is executed for
desertion
by squad leader
Rick Flag
during the squad's mission to contain Enchantress. The squad is forced to rescue Waller, much to their chagrin, as she is attempting to cover up her role in Enchantress' escape.
After the team neutralizes Enchantress, freeing Moon from her possession, Waller rewards most of its members except Captain Boomerang with 10 years reduced from their sentences and various gifts. She later meets in-person with Bruce Wayne, giving him
classified government documents
on several metahumans including
Arthur Curry
and
Barry Allen
so he can recruit them for
his own team
,
[b]
in exchange for Wayne protecting her reputation and concealing her involvement with Task Force X.
Destroying Project Starfish
[
edit
]
Waller deploys two Task Force X groups, each squad initially unaware of the existence of the other, in
Corto Maltese
following an anti-American coup to disrupt the country’s "Project Starfish", revealed to be a mission to conceal America’s role in the inhumane experiments. The first squad, led by Rick Flag and also including Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, and several others, attacks via
amphibious warfare
and save for Flag, Quinn, and teammates
T.D.K.
and
Weasel
, is annihilated by Corto Maltesean defenses, with Flag being rescued by the local rebellion group, the Freedom Fighters, Quinn being captured by the military and T.D.K. and Weasel being left for dead but still had survived. Waller personally executes a terrifying teammate
Savant
for
desertion
by remotely detonating an explosive planted in his head. The second squad, consisting of
Robert DuBois / Bloodsport
, whom Waller personally blackmails into joining and leading the second team by threatening to incarcerate his daughter Tyla into Belle Reve,
Chris Smith / Peacemaker
,
Nanaue / King Shark
,
Cleo Cazo / Ratcatcher 2
and her pet rat Sebastian, and
Abner Krill / Polka-Dot Man
, infiltrates while the Corto Maltesean military is distracted by the first squad, which was merely a deliberate decoy.
The second squad rescues Flag and Quinn before converging on the location of Project Starfish at Jotunheim, a Nazi-era research facility. Both revealed by their captive, the project's head geneticist,
Thinker
, who was forced by the team to help them infiltrated Jotenheim, that he had been hired by both the United States and Corto Maltesean governments to oversee the project and Waller's real attention to assembled this squad. Waller has also specifically planted Peacemaker to ensure no one leaked the project. The ensuing scuffle results in Peacemaker remorsefully killing Flag and almost killing Cazo before Bloodsport subdues him, in addition to
Starro
, the giant, starfish-like alien at the center of "Project Starfish", breaking out, kills Thinker for the experiments on it, wreaking havoc on the island and taking control of its inhabitants. Waller orders the remaining squad members to evacuate, but they defy her orders, out of concern for Corto Maltese's citizens. Enraged, Waller threatens to execute them all before her subordinate Flo Crawley knocks her out and, along with the tactical support team, including
Emilia Harcourt
and John Economos, give the squad the go-ahead to save Corto Maltese from Starro. After they kill the giant alien, Bloodsport is able to negotiate with a recovering Waller to let him and his remaining squad teammates Quinn, Nanaue, Cazo and Sebastian go free and airlifted them off the island along to still drop his daughter's incarcerate, using the evidence he took of the American involvement in Project Starfish as a bargaining chip.
Project Butterfly
[
edit
]
Several months after Project Starfish, Waller commissions a new team to contain an extraterrestrial threat, an alien race called the Butterflies, with Clemson Murn assigned to lead and Peacemaker assigned after his recovery, unknown to her that Murn is killed and controlled by a rogue Butterfly named Ik Nobe Lok. As punishment for their insubordination during Project Starfish, Economos and Harcourt are also assigned by Waller, much to their chagrin as they feel as if they are being forced to "babysit" Smith. Waller's daughter Leota Adebayo, also assigned to the team, is conflicted between following her mother's orders to incriminate Smith and her bond with him. She asks her mother for aid when Smith's team finds the "cow" of the Butterflies, after which Waller summons the Justice League, albeit too late. Leota, becoming disillusioned with her mother, later leaks Waller's involvement with both Project Butterfly and Task Force X, clearing Smith's name and putting a shocking Waller in a predicament in the process.
Release of Teth-Adam
[
edit
]
After
Teth-Adam
is awakened from a 5,000-year slumber in
Kahndaq
, Waller contacts
Carter Hall / Hawkman
and the
Justice Society
, dispatching them to contain Adam and prevent him from potentially unleashing another rampage for which he was imprisoned by the Council of Wizards. After coming to terms with Adam and facing off against
Intergang
, the Justice Society take in Adam, who surrenders out of remorse and feeling unfit to be a hero. However, Adam is
broken out of his containment
by
Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate
and helps save the country from
Sabbac
. Waller contacts Adam, who has now adapted the more modern name
Black Adam
, warning him not to leave Khandaq and sending a since-resurrected Superman
[b]
to have a word with him.
DC Universe
[
edit
]
Forming the Creature Commandoes
[
edit
]
In the continuity set after the events of
The Flash
, this intergation of Waller, after Leota exposed her activities, assembles a black ops team of monsters led by
Rick Flag Sr.
and consisting of Nina Mazursky,
Doctor Phosphorus
,
Eric Frankenstein
, the Bride of Frankenstein,
G.I. Robot
, and
Weasel
.
Reception
[
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]
Mark Birrel of
Screen Rant
ranked Amanda Waller in
Suicide Squad
the best villain in any DCEU film, looking at the films up to 2019.
[14]
He writes "Viola Davis' turn as the fan-favorite character produced the DCEU's most human, and most cunning, villain in what has been their most critically reviled effort yet. Davis manages to outshine some of the biggest, brightest, loudest stars in an almighty ensemble movie that's chock-full of conflicting motivations and personalities." He also notes that her unwavering confidence and ruthlessness makes her the perfect "don" of the Suicide Squad.
[14]
Darren Mooney writes in a review of the film's standalone sequel/soft reboot
The Suicide Squad
that Waller's character and "
spymaster
archetype" had been deconstructed in the film, due to factors such as having a less dominating presence in the sequel in favor of the second Suicide Squad's members and being more mistake-prone, making errors such as erroneously sending
Weasel
on an
amphibious assault
when he is unable to swim and being out-maneuvered by
Bloodsport
in the film's climax. Mooney also describes Waller as the DCEU's counterpart to
Nick Fury
of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
, continuing to say that like Fury, Waller is "another seemingly mortal character manipulating the superheroes around her within a military framework."
[15]
After the release of the film
The Woman King
, which starred Viola Davis, Renaldo Matadeen of
CBR.com
wrote in 2022 that the DCEU was "wasting" her portrayal of Amanda Waller, given Davis' strong performance in the film. Matadeen argued that the DCEU should have portrayed more angles of Waller's character instead of having her "being put in a box in the
Suicide Squad
and
Peacemaker
properties, where she barks orders from the Task Force X headquarters", also calling her nothing more than a "corporate shill for the government" aside from when she met
Bruce Wayne
and came off as "quite scary" in
Suicide Squad
.
[16]
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Hood, Cooper (February 2, 2023).
"James Gunn Clarifies What The Flash Movie Reset Means For The DCU"
.
Screen Rant
.
- ^
"Superman: The Animated Series DVD news: Announcement for Superman/Batman: Public Enemies"
. TVShowsonDVD.com. Archived from
the original
on October 30, 2014
. Retrieved
October 30,
2014
.
- ^
Patrick Schumacker [@PMSchumacker] (June 29, 2022).
"Tisha Campbell!"
(
Tweet
) – via
Twitter
.
- ^
"Pam Grier To Play Amanda Waller On 'Smallville'
"
.
MTV
. Retrieved
2022-10-21
.
- ^
Ausiello, Michael.
"Arrow Targets Spartacus Alumna as Infamous DC Comics Villain Amanda Waller"
.
TVLine
. Archived from
the original
on 27 February 2014
. Retrieved
5 September
2013
.
- ^
"Angela Bassett joins 'Green Lantern' Cast"
.
Variety
. March 24, 2010.
Archived
from the original on July 28, 2010
. Retrieved
August 7,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
Sperling, Nicole (2016-07-11).
"Viola Davis cursed out a castmate while filming 'Suicide Squad'
"
.
EW.com
. Retrieved
2022-10-21
.
- ^
"Viola Davis Talks Amanda Waller in 'Suicide Squad' ? NERD REPORT"
. Retrieved
2022-10-21
.
- ^
a
b
"Suicide Squad: exclusive new images of Killer Croc and Amanda Waller"
.
Empire
. Retrieved
2022-10-21
.
- ^
Vanity Fair
(2016-02-16).
Viola Davis Says Jared Leto Sent the Cast of "Suicide Squad" a Dead Pig
(Video).
YouTube
.
- ^
"How Jared Leto's Dead-Pig Stunt Affected Viola Davis' Suicide Squad Performance"
.
CINEMABLEND
. 2016-02-18
. Retrieved
2020-11-23
.
- ^
D'Alessandro, Anthony; Fleming, Ryan; Grobar, Matt (July 23, 2022).
"
'Black Adam': Dwayne Johnson Shows Up In Costume, Rumbling Hall H With Exclusive Footage Featuring Viola Davis' Amanda Waller ? Comic-Con"
.
Deadline Hollywood
.
Archived
from the original on July 23, 2022
. Retrieved
August 1,
2022
.
- ^
Otterson, Joe (May 3, 2022).
"Viola Davis in Talks to Star as Amanda Waller in 'Peacemaker' Spinoff Series at HBO Max"
.
Variety
.
Archived
from the original on May 3, 2022
. Retrieved
May 4,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"The 10 Best Villains From The DCEU, Ranked"
.
Screen Rant
. 2019-07-26
. Retrieved
2021-08-19
.
- ^
Mooney, Darren (2021-08-06).
"The Suicide Squad Deconstructs Amanda Waller"
.
The Escapist
. Retrieved
2022-10-21
.
- ^
Matadeen, Renaldo (2022-10-11).
"The Woman King Reiterates the DCEU Is Wasting Viola Davis' Amanda Waller"
.
CBR
. Retrieved
2022-10-20
.
The plot description and characterization were adapted from
Amanda Waller
at the DC Extended Universe Wiki, which is available under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license
.
External links
[
edit
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Current members
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Field Leader
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Operatives
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Notable former members
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Antagonists
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Film
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TV series
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Video game
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Related articles
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