Viola Davisis arguably the most prominent cast member of the old DC Extended Universe who has remained in her role in the new DCU. The EGOT winner debuted as manipulative government agent Amanda Waller in 2016’sSuicide Squad, the third film in the DCEU, before reprising the role in several other projects, two of which are partially canonical to the new franchise.
Recently, she played a supporting role in the animated seriesCreature Commandos, the DCU’s first official installment. Unfortunately, throughout her nearly decade-long tenure in the role,Davis has yet to receive any opportunities that capture the complexities Waller has in her best comics appearances, with it often seeming like the franchise’s creators are unsure how to develop her.
Amanda Waller Is So Much More Than a Villain
Created byJohn Ostrander, Len Wein,andJohn Byrne, Waller first appeared in the 1986-1987 DC Comics crossoverLegendsas the government supervisor of the then-modern incarnation of Task Force X (the Suicide Squad). The character remained in this role for much of Ostrander’s subsequent acclaimed run on theSuicide Squadongoing comic, which established many of the character’s recurring traits and biographical details.The character was always portrayed as an antihero at best, with traditional superheroes and some of her own colleagues often criticizing the morality, or lack thereof, of the Squad’s black ops tacticsand use of incarcerated supervillains as expendable, unaccountable agents. However, these early stories also emphasized that Waller usedthese questionable methods to achieve goals she genuinely believed were in the world’s (or, at least, the United States’s) best interestand showed that she did not risk the safety even of her most villainous operatives without what she thought was a compelling reason for doing so. Waller will fight alongside Superman or plot to kill him if it means protecting the world from perceived threats.
Unfortunately, many subsequent appearances have failed to achieve this same balance, portraying Waller as a more plainly immoral example of government corruption. The character’s most expansive, significant role is still the one she played inSuicide Squad, which is ironic given that, with the exception ofBlack Adam, all the other projects she’s appeared in were generally muchbetter received than the 2016 film. But even in that story,Waller still isn’t the complex figure she has the potential to be, with her all too brief moments of humanity still being completely subsumed by the ruthlessness she displays for the rest of the film. Furthermore, none of the projects have really delved into the character’s backstory to explain why she is so dedicated to ensuring national security, even though the television seriesPeacemakernominally expanded on her personal life by introducing her daughter, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks).
Our Biggest Unanswered Questions After ‘Creature Commandos’ Season 1
Did they just forget about the evil gorilla?
Waller’s Role in the DCU Leaves So Much To Be Desired
Arguably a bigger problem with this iteration of Waller is thatthe projects are inconsistent about how powerful and cunning she actually is. Despite playing a role that initially seems similar to his, the DCEU and now DCU do highlight that Waller isn’t actually the same kind of ingenious spymaster thatSamuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, with her ambitious attempts to advance American interests often either instigating or exacerbating the threats Task Force X, and its successor, Task Force M (the Creature Commandos), ultimately wind up battling. However, the franchises also often give the character an air of untouchable influencethat allows her to avoid facing consequences for her mistakesin ways that are hard to believe. The 2021 sequelThe Suicide Squadends with Waller and Squad leader Bloodsport (Idris Elba) in a kind of stalemate, with Bloodsport agreeing not to publicize evidence of the U.S. government’s involvement in human rights violations in the nation of Corto Maltese if Waller releases him and the rest of the Squad and gets the criminal charges his daughter is facing dropped. While this is a somewhat believable ending for the film’s morally ambiguous story, it is a bit of a stretch to imagine that none of the less predictable Squad members, especially Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), would pursue retribution against Waller.
Even less convincing is Waller’s role inCreature Commandos. The animated series takes placeafterPeacemakerSeason 1, at the end of which Leota exposed the existence of Task Force X to the public. However, the only major consequence of this is that Congress forbids Waller’s A.R.G.U.S. organization from using prisoners who are considered biologically human on its missions, leading to the recruitment of the monstrous Creature Commandos.Throughout the series, Waller is repeatedly manipulated bythe Task Force’s enemies, consequently sending the Commandos on missions that nearly cause international war. Butthe first season endswith a new iteration of the Commandos being formed, with Waller still described as being in charge. Not only does this suggest that Waller has somehow avoided significant repercussions for her latest failure (this blows up in her face every single time), but it also leads to an out-of-character response from Commando The Bride (Indira Varma). The Bride notes that she will be remaining on the team, even though her friend Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao) was killed on the last mission due in large part to Waller’s ineptitude. While it’s unclear whether the Commandos had explosives implanted in their heads to ensure cooperation with A.R.G.U.S. like the Squad does, even if that were the case, one imagines that the resourceful Bride would find some way to free herself and either avoid ever having anything to do with Waller again or attempt to kill her, rather than going back to work for her.
At best, it seems like DC is bidding its time until a project with a more significant role forWaller, such as her own upcoming spin-off series, can really flesh out the character and her role in the new universe. But this leads her involvement to create holes in the plots and emotional logic of the intervening projects. Worse is the possibility that the franchise’s creators still don’t know what to do with the character,which would be a real shame considering how perfectly cast Davis isin the role.
Creature CommandosSeason 1 is available to stream on Max in the U.S.
Creature Commandos
In “Creature Commandos,” Amanda Waller assembles a covert team of monstrous operatives, including a werewolf, vampire, and gorgon, to undertake high-risk missions deemed too perilous for human agents.
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