| Amanda Waller | |
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| DC Extended Universeand DC Universe character | |
 Viola Davis as Amanda Waller inSuicide Squad (2016) | |
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| Portrayed by | Viola Davis |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Amanda Belle Waller (née Blake) |
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| Affiliation |
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| Family | Leota Adebayo (daughter) |
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Amanda Belle Waller (néeBlake) is a fictional character in theDC Extended Universe (DCEU) and later theDC Universe (DCU)media franchise. She is portrayed byViola Davis and is based on theDC Comics characterof the same name. A morally ambiguous"ends justify the means" character as portrayed in the comics, Waller is a ruthless, calculating government official and the director of the agencyA.R.G.U.S.
In the DCEU, Waller initially oversees the operations of the black ops unit "Task Force X", selecting an ensemble of incarcerated inmates at theBelle Reve Correctional Facility to partake in covert operations that were to be performed discreetly, to preserve government interests and avoid interference from other activemetahumans. She notably supervised the original incarnation of Task Force X that was dispatched to stop theEnchantress from taking over Earth alongside her brother, as well as a second iteration of the team that infiltrated the remote island ofCorto Maltese in order to destroy the fortified base Jotunheim and neutralize an extraterrestrial being known as "Starro".
In the DCU, she sent out a group ofA.R.G.U.S. agents alongside former Task Force X memberChristopher Smith / Peacemaker and her estranged daughterLeota Adebayo, to destroy an alien species known as Butterflies to prevent a global invasion. Following its completion, Adebayo leaked the existence of Task Force X and Waller's involvement, leading theU.S. Congress to bar her from exploiting any human subjects. Waller instead forms "Task Force M", a conceptually similar strike team now composed of monsters and metahumans, who are sent out toPokolistan in order to stop an ongoing invasion effort by theAmazonian sorcereressCirce and the Sons ofThemyscira, while protecting its Princess Illana Rostovic. A vision of a potential future from Circe leads Waller to direct them back to the country in order to kill Rostovic before she is poised to wage war against Earth and kill all metahumans.[1]
As of 2023, the character was a major recurring figure in the DCEU, appearing in the filmsSuicide Squad (2016), its standalone sequelThe Suicide Squad (2021), andBlack Adam (2022) with an uncredited cameo, as well as the first season of the television seriesPeacemaker (2022–present). The character is integrated into the rebooted continuity of theDC Universe (DCU) media franchise, returning in both the animated seriesCreature Commandos (2024–present), and being set to feature in the live-action seriesWaller as the main protagonist.
In the comics,Amanda Waller first appeared in the 1980s as a Congressional aide who is placed in charge of theSuicide Squad, with her role and characteristics varying with publication changes such asThe New 52. Waller has often been featured in other media based on DC Comics, with voice actressesCCH Pounder,Sheryl Lee Ralph, andTisha Campbell voicing the character in cartoons and animated films such asJustice League Unlimited,Young Justice, theDC Animated Movie Universe, andHarley Quinn,[2][3] as well as being portrayed in live action byPam Grier inSmallville,[4]Cynthia Addai-Robinson in theArrowverse,[5] andAngela Bassett in the filmGreen Lantern.[6]
ActressViola Davis was cast to play Waller inSuicide Squad, which is set in theDC 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 readConfessions 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 directorDavid Ayer and other cast members utilized unorthodox acting techniques during filming. In one instance, Ayer made her callRick Flag actorJoel 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 actorJared Leto had a "henchman" leave a deadpig 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 givenMargot Robbie, who portrayedHarley Quinn, a liveblack rat in a box. Davis commented that Robbie "screamed, and then she kept it."[10][11]
Davis reprised the role inThe Suicide Squad,Peacemaker, andBlack Adam.[12] She has also entered talks to star in an HBO Max series centered on her character.[13]
Amanda Waller is introduced inSuicide Squad as anFBI official in charge of A.R.G.U.S.. She is shown to be in contact with vigilantes such asBruce Wayne / Batman, to whom she provides intelligence in order for him to apprehend criminals such asFloyd Lawton / Deadshot. Following the death ofSuperman,[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, andKiller Croc. She also attempts to enlistJune Moon / Enchantress andSlipknot, but Enchantress goes rogue and creates a global threat while Slipknot is executed fordesertion by squad leaderRick 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 himclassified government documents on several metahumans includingArthur Curry andBarry Allen so he can recruit them forhis own team,[b] in exchange for Wayne protecting her reputation and concealing her involvement with Task Force X.
Waller deploys two Task Force X groups, each squad initially unaware of the existence of the other, inCorto Maltese following an anti-American coup to disrupt the country’s "Project Starfish", revealed to be also a mission to conceal America’s role in the inhumane experiments while besides destroying the said project before being weaponized by the new regime. The first squad, led by Rick Flag and also including Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, and several others, attacks viaamphibious warfare and save for Flag, Quinn, and teammatesCory Pitzner / T.D.K. and"John Doe" / 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 teammateBrian Durlin / Savant fordesertion by remotely detonating an explosive planted in his head. The second squad, consisting ofRobert 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, andAbner 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 Jötunheim, 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 Jötenheim, 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 toStarro, 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, seeing that Starro's escape their secrecy and that it would help bring down the current regime, but they defy her orders, out of concern for Corto Maltese's citizens. Enraged for risking their secrecy, Waller threatens to execute them all before her subordinate Flo Crawley knocks her out and, along with the tactical support team, includingEmilia Harcourt andJohn 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.
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. 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 shocked Waller in a predicament in the process.
AfterTeth-Adam is awakened from a 5,000-year slumber inKahndaq, Waller contactsCarter Hall / Hawkman and theJustice 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 againstIntergang, the Justice Society take in Adam, who surrenders out of remorse and feeling unfit to be a hero. However, Adam isbroken out of his containment byKent Nelson / Doctor Fate and helps save the country fromSabbac. Waller contacts Adam, who has now adapted the more modern nameBlack Adam, warning him not to leave Khandaq and sending a since-resurrected Superman[b] to have a word with him.
In the new continuity of theDC Universe, this iteration of Waller heads the Advanced Research Group of the United States, which monitors and potentially intervenes with metahuman, paranormal and occult activities. After Leota Adebayo exposed her involvement with Task Force X, an injunction was made to prevent Waller from exploiting the human population of Belle Reve by the U.S. congress. Since then, to protect the allied nation ofPokolistan and its heiress, Princess Ilana Rostovic, from the attacks of the rogueAmazonian sorceressCirce and her followers, the Sons of Themyscira, she assembles and sends a black ops team of non-human Belle Reve inmates, from their Non-Human Interment Division, called Task Force M, also known as theCreature Commandos. The team is led by Gen.Rick Flag Sr. and consists ofNina Mazursky,Alex Sartorius / Dr. Phosphorus, theBride,G.I. Robot, and a returned, reconvictedWeasel.
After the team manages to apprehend Circe, who destroyed G.I., Waller, Flag, and Economos meet her in the interrogation room at Belle Reve, where Circe tries to prove her claim that they were dooming the world, by showing Waller visions of an apocalyptic future. In it, Waller sees Rostovic become a ruthless warlord who works withGorilla Grodd to conquer other nations and murder numerous superheroes. She later verifies the vision with Themyscyran expert Alisa MacPherson, who confirms Circe's clairvoyant powers as legitimate. She then orders Flag to return with the Commandos to Pokolistan and assassinate Rostovic, but Flag refuses, believing that the vision may have been falsified. After dismissing Flag, Waller assigns the Bride as the new leader of the Commandos.
Later, Waller learns that Flag has been hospitalized after suffering serious injuries, and thatEric Frankenstein helped to get him there. Some time after, Flag regains consciousness, and tells Waller that the assassination mission is a set-up, prompting her and Economos to investigate MacPherson's home. They learn that the real MacPherson has been killed and impersonated byClayface, who attacked Flag and Frankenstein, leading them to believe that Circe tricked them into potentially starting a war. Waller contacts Rostovic's Amethyst Knights and manages to stop them from apprehending the Commandos, though she was too late to prevent Nina's death at Rostovic's hands. Unbeknownst to Waller, Rostovic was working with Clayface to trick both her and Flag, but, after seeing a video footage of the princess and Clayface, the Bride, who became fond of Nina, deduces Rostovic's deception and kills her before leaving the country with the rest of her team.
Some time later, Waller assigns the Bride, as well as the Commandos, along with G.I. who have been rebuilt with a giant body, with a new living space within Belle Reve, while also appoints three new members to the team:Nosferata,Khalis, and a reconvictedKing Shark.
Following Task Force M's successful operation in Pokolistan and amidst continued congressional scrutiny regarding Task Force X's creation, Waller left her responsibilities as director of A.R.G.U.S. and was immediately succeeded by Rick Flag Sr. at the request of thePresident of the United States. Flag Sr. immediately demanded access to confidential documentation pertaining to the death of his sonRick Flag Jr. during "Project Starfish" in Corto Maltese, and learned about Waller's orders toChris Smith / Peacemaker to assassinate Flag for threatening to expose the country's collusion.
Mark Birrel ofScreen Rant ranked Amanda Waller inSuicide 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 rebootThe 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 sendingWeasel on anamphibious assault when he is unable to swim and being out-maneuvered byBloodsport in the film's climax. Mooney also describes Waller as the DCEU's counterpart toNick Fury of theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), 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 filmThe Woman King, which starred Viola Davis, Renaldo Matadeen ofCBR.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 theSuicide Squad andPeacemaker 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 metBruce Wayne and came off as "quite scary" inSuicide Squad.[16]
The plot description and characterization were adapted fromAmanda Waller at the DC Extended Universe Wiki, which is available under aCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license.
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