Amanda Waller (DC Extended Universe)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Amanda Waller
DC Extended Universe and
DC Universe character
Viola Davis as Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad (2016)
First appearance
Last appearance
Based on
Adapted by
Portrayed byViola Davis
In-universe information
Full nameAmanda Waller
Occupation
Affiliation
Family
  • DC Extended Universe:
  • Leota Adebayo (daughter)

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

Waller
, which she will be the latter show's title main protagonist.

Character development and execution

Comics origins and prior portrayals

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

Upon being cast as Waller, Viola Davis praised her character's strength and ability to manipulate superheroes and supervillains on a whim.

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

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 Flagg 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

DC Extended Universe

Creating Task Force X

Main article: Suicide Squad (2016 film)

Amanda Waller is introduced in Suicide Squad as an

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

his own team,[b]
in exchange for Wayne protecting her reputation and concealing her involvement with Task Force X.

Destroying Project Starfish

Main article: The Suicide Squad (film)

Waller deploys two Task Force X groups, each squad initially unaware of the existence of the other, in

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 Jötunheim, a Nazi-era research facility. Both revealed by their captive, the project's head geneticist,

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

Main article: Peacemaker (TV series)
Further information: A Whole New Whirled and It's Cow or Never

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

Main article: Black Adam (film)

After

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

Forming the Creature Commandoes

Main article: Creature Commandos (TV series)

In the continuity set after the events of

Weasel
.

Reception

Mark Birrel of

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

Notes

  1. ^ As depicted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
  2. ^ a b As depicted in Justice League (2017) and its 2021 director's cut

References

  1. ^ Hood, Cooper (February 2, 2023). "James Gunn Clarifies What The Flash Movie Reset Means For The DCU". Screen Rant.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ Patrick Schumacker [@PMSchumacker] (June 29, 2022). "Tisha Campbell!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Pam Grier To Play Amanda Waller On 'Smallville'". MTV. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Angela Bassett joins 'Green Lantern' Cast". Variety. March 24, 2010. Archived from the original on July 28, 2010. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
  7. ^ a b Sperling, Nicole (2016-07-11). "Viola Davis cursed out a castmate while filming 'Suicide Squad'". EW.com. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  8. ^ "Viola Davis Talks Amanda Waller in 'Suicide Squad' – NERD REPORT". Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  9. ^ a b "Suicide Squad: exclusive new images of Killer Croc and Amanda Waller". Empire. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  10. ^ Vanity Fair (2016-02-16). Viola Davis Says Jared Leto Sent the Cast of "Suicide Squad" a Dead Pig (Video). YouTube.
  11. ^ "How Jared Leto's Dead-Pig Stunt Affected Viola Davis' Suicide Squad Performance". CINEMABLEND. 2016-02-18. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ a b "The 10 Best Villains From The DCEU, Ranked". Screen Rant. 2019-07-26. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  15. ^ Mooney, Darren (2021-08-06). "The Suicide Squad Deconstructs Amanda Waller". The Escapist. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  16. ^ 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

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amanda_Waller_(DC_Extended_Universe)&oldid=1214129500"