In a taut exchange from 2016’sSuicide Squad, an awe-struckHarley Quinn(Margot Robbie) asks “Are you the devil?” “Maybe” replies a stoic Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), ina display of apathy that will send shivers down your spine.In a universe inhabited by superheroes and supervillains, it’s easy to see the world in black and white; good and bad. The baddies have outlandish plans for taking over the world, causing chaos, mayhem, and death, and the do-gooders must try everything they can to stop them and save the world. However, there are some characters that live in the grey, whose actions and motivations are less clear-cut, andno one embodies this shady area more than Viola Davis’ merciless Amanda Waller.
Amanda Waller Will Do Anything to Achieve Her Goals
She is ruthless, cunning, pragmatic, and determined;an expert strategist who creates plans and backup plans, moves, and countermoves.Waller is not motivated by money, greed, or world domination, butis instead driven by what she sees as ‘the greater good’ for her country, and she is willing to doanythingto achieve her goals. Peacemaker (John Cena) espouses the same brutally nationalistic goals, similarly oscillating between good and bad, buthe more clearly revels in his ability to murderdue to his credo and how much he cherishes peace, and is a true hypocrite to his name.She holds human and superhuman life in little regard, and her cold indifference toward others rings frighteningly true for a top-level bureaucrat.She sees all the other characters as players on her chessboard, and she is the godly hand that moves the pieces.
This callousness is on full display in 2021’sThe Suicide Squadwhen the titular troupe wants to fight Starro the Conquerorand save the day. Instead of trying to save thousands of innocent lives,Waller declares they need not interfere and orders them to return home.The mission was never about destroying Starro or saving anyone; their true purpose was to erase any record of the United States' involvement in illegal experiments on the alien. If destabilizing a nation antagonistic towards her country is a consequence, then for her that’s an unexpected bonus - despite the death toll.
Amanda Waller Yields Unlimited Power
What makes her an even more formidable foe is thatWaller’s plans also seem to directly or indirectly set bigger playsin motion. InPeacemaker,she orchestrates Project Butterflyand incriminates Peacemaker in the illegal activity. InBlack Adam, she hires the Justice Society to take down Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) setting the whole movie in motion.She is the major player in both iterations ofSuicide Squadmovies; exploiting Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) and then hiring the Suicide Squad to take her down in the 2016 film and sending Taskforce X to cover up Project Starfish in the 2021 version.
Waller’s attitude of “the ends will justify the means"creates uncertainty about her status as either a villain or a hero.Other iterations of the character have shown the many ways she can be viewed. InGreen Lantern,Angela Bassettshowed a more well-intentioned Waller. Her intellect and her brusqueness were there,but without much of the stone-faced ruthlessness that Davis wields in her iteration.The Amanda Waller that exists inArrowis closer in tone and action to the current version, whereshe uses her skills in scheming and blackmail to get what she wantsand lacks any empathy or morals. She casually murders her own “assets,” authorizes strikes on innocent civilians, and believes absolutely in extreme measures. Given we can spend more time with this Waller, her sociopathic tendencies (and therefore, her villainy)become more clear, and they ultimately lead to her death.
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Viola Davis Makes Amanda Waller the DCU’s Most Sinister Character
Viola Davis is a powerhouse talent, steadfastly believable in any role and commanding on screen.She has copious awards for good reason. She brings a presence to Waller that other iterations have not had. She is clinical and cold in one moment, only to be tipped over the edge in the next, a fire in her eyes that strikes fear into even the toughest criminals.You truly believe she is capable of anything.This nuance is lacking in a lot of the big names of the DCU; we know exactly where Superman, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman stand because they have lines they will not cross. Conversely, one-dimensional villains like Steppenwolf or Incubuslack complexity because their goal is seemingly just to be bad. Even the more enigmatic villains like Joker and Harley Quinn can be relied upon to act as agents of chaos, or in a self-serving manner. But in terms of being truly sinister,no one comes close to Amanda Waller.
Individually, her deeds seem justifiable, but when they are summed up,we see the portrait of a true sociopath. She’s capable of creating a suicide squad, facilitating torture, inflicting harm and death upon innocents, killing a team member trying to escape by coolly detonating a bomb in their neck, even abusing her position of power and unflinchingly murdering her entire team.These actions show the extent of Waller’s apathy, how she ruthlessly lords her control over others and cements her complete disregard for human life.They push her out ofcomplex antihero territoryand into the league of a true villain.Yes, she claims to serve the greater good, but the problem is, Waller herself determines what that good is, and her ability to justify any action or neutralize any threats has meant she is operating under strict secrecy with little oversight.Absolute power is corrupting her absolutely, and self-justification is pushing her further away from her heroic goals. Villains rarely believe they are the villains of the piece, seeing their actions as perfectly logical and perhaps inevitable.
Throughout all these DCU stories, she finds ways to avoid consequences and cover up her involvement, a cunning mastermind who hides in the shadows before revealing that she is the puppet master. It’s important to recognize that,despite the power she wields, Waller is not a metahuman. Her superpowers instead lie in political maneuvering, in finding and using leverage on players on both sides of the field for her own purposes. Waller herself states that getting people to act against their own self-interest in the name of the national security of the United Statesis what she does for a living. Her political connections and ability to coerce meanshe can do so with heroes, villains,and everything in between.
What Can We Expect From the ‘Waller’ TV Show?
That’s why theWallerTV seriescomes at the perfect time. Set after the events of Season 1 ofPeacemaker, where her daughter exposed her duplicitous actions surrounding Project Butterfly and Task Force X to the world,Waller will be operating at her highest level, and all bets will be off.We have already seen that she seeks revenge on anyone who crosses her, no matter how slight.How will she react when it’s her daughter in the crosshairs, and she can no longer hide behind the pretext of national security? How far will she go to clear her name and quietly resume her life’s work? It is undeniable thatJames Gunnis the perfect person to oversee the project and delve deeper into her character.He is a champion of morally grey characters who see the world differently and try to do their best. One thing is for sure -Waller definitely believes that she is the hero of her own story.
