Who is the best villain in the DC Cinematic Universe? Oh, it’s not Joker or Lex Luthor. I think an argument can be made for Amanda Waller, played brilliantly by Viola Davis. This character debuted in the 2016 Suicide Squad movie and she was probably one of the very few redeeming things about it. Although she technically the main antagonist, she was still the puppet master pulling the strings on just about every other character. And for all you DC fans out there who are familiar with the history of the Suicide Squad, you’ll know she’s the mastermind of it all. I mean, can you even justify her idea of forcing criminals to serve the government in exchange for cutting time off their prison sentences? Her methods of going about it are indeed extreme, but it shows that she’s willing to do anything to accomplish her goals.
In fact, that sums up the motivation of every villain, doesn’t it? We’ve seen it before in other comic book movies, such as Thanos or Ultron, but there’s a critical difference between them and Amanda Waller. It’s pretty obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: she’s just an ordinary human. She’s no alien warlord or a highly advanced android or even a physical villain. Her strength lies in her unrivaled skills in cunning and manipulation. That is how she is able to force hardened criminals like Deadshot and Peacemaker to do her bidding. Heck, she even got Rick Flag to get on board with the squad and he’s a true American patriot. I mean, not as much as Peacemaker but he’s on a totally different level.
Speaking of Peacemaker, that is the first DCEU show ever and it premiered on HBO Max not too long ago. Thanks to James Gunn‘s direction and a stellar performance from John Cena, the show was a hit. By the end of the first season, it didn’t take Warner Bros. too long to green light a second season. That’s exciting news, given the multiple cliffhangers the first season left us with. But hold on, there will be a familiar fan-favorite character returning for season 2. You guessed it, it’s Amanda Waller herself.
Now this is something that should make us very curious. Amanda Waller didn’t have a big role in the first season of Peacemaker but her presence played a big influence on the team sent to combat the alien invasion. In fact, it turns out she has a daughter named Leota Adebayo, an original character created for the series. However, it also turned out that her daughter was the exact opposite of her mother in basically every way. While Amanda Waller was ruthless and determined, Adebayo was compassionate and was willing to walk away from Project Butterfly so she can settle down with her partner. That was an interesting dynamic that James Gunn created for the series and the way it ended was even more intriguing.
In the season finale of Peacemaker, Adebayo publicly confessed that her mother was running a secret black ops team called Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad. Oh, and she did this while Amanda Waller was watching on national television. Needless to say, this was a risky move on Adebayo’s part and she will more than likely receive some backlash. The only thing we should wonder about is if her mother will cross some lines in order to protect her part in forming the Suicide Squad. We all remember what she told John Economos that he would be surprised to know what she would do to protect the interest of the government. But of course, we all know what she really meant was her own interest.
This should set up for a rather contentious relationship between Amanda Waller and her own daughter. If she’s as ruthless as we know her to be, she won’t let this go unpunished. We should also remember that Peacemaker was the one member of the Suicide Squad who fully believed in her mission. Although he was reluctant to kill Rick Flag, his commitment to the mission was motivated by his twisted philosophy of peace. But thankfully, that experience changed him and now he has become more of an anti-hero in the DCEU. How does this affect his relationship with Amanda Waller? Well, I somehow get the feeling she’ll become the main antagonist for season 2.
Now if she isn’t the main antagonist, I still believe she’ll at least be a supporting antagonist. I dug the unexpected Butterflies as the villains for season one and I expect James Gunn to take it a step further. That means Amanda Waller could be sidelined, but even so, she can still be a strong villain. We can just look back at both Suicide Squad movies and remind ourselves that she wasn’t really the main antagonist. But again, she was responsible for forming the squad and even tried to kill them all when they actually wanted to do the right thing. The second movie made her even more ruthless and even though she suffered a defeat, she won’t slow down.
Needless to say, she’ll be out for revenge and to cover herself in season 2. Her daughter seems unfazed but she just might underestimate how far her mother is willing to go to cover her tracks. This will be a very fun conflict to see play out and I’m anxious to see how both Peacemaker and Adebayo handle Waller’s retaliation. After this second season, I think it will cement Amanda Waller’s status as the DCEU’s most ruthless villain. On top of that, it could determine the future of the Suicide Squad in the DCEU. Given that the last movie wasn’t a box office hit, it’s possible Peacemaker could permanently squash its existence.
What are your thoughts? I can’t wait to see Viola Davis back as Amanda Waller again and hopefully she’ll have a bigger role. When she’s the most scariest person in a room filled with hardened criminals with superpowers, you know she’s the real deal.Suicide Squad
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