Several weeks ago, Warner Bros. announced the cast of their upcoming DC film Suicide Squad. While most of the team was revealed, there was one crucial character missing from the lineup: Amanda Waller. As the commander of the officially-designated Task Force X, Waller is one of the most dangerous individuals in the DC universe, and a frequent adversary to both superheroes and supervillains. A character that’s so badass that she doesn't even blink an eye telling Batman off. Now we might know who's playing this force of nature...so to speak.
Latino Review is reporting that Viola Davis has been cast as Waller for the 2016 blockbuster. Davis was one of several contenders for the role, alongside her The Help co-star Octavia Spencer and Oprah Winfrey. The actress is currently starring in the ABC series How To Get Away With Murder, and the role is contingent on it being able to work with her TV schedule. If this ends up being official, Davis will join the main cast alongside Jared Leto as The Joker, Tom Hardy as Rick Flag, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Cara Delevingne as Enchantress.
As pictured above, in the comics, Waller is a former Congressional aide who is tasked with overseeing the Suicide Squad, a group of incarcerated super villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. government in exchange for reduced prison sentences. This will be Waller’s second appearance in a theatrical film. She was previously played by Angela Basset in 2011’s Green Lantern, although this version of the character was a scientist for the Department of Extranormal Operations. Waller’s other live-action appearances include a recurring role on Arrow, where she is played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and several episodes of Smallville, where she was played by Pam Grier. The character has also appeared many times in animation, most notably in a recurring antagonist in Justice League Unlimited, voiced by C.C.H. Pounder.
If this is true, Viola Davis is a fantastic choice to play the Suicide Squad’s overseer. She’s given enough powerful performances that she’ll play the tough-as-nails government operative quite well. This is a woman who will take any action, however cruel it may be, to protect her country. This can be anything from detonating a bomb inside one of her operatives if they try to escape or ordering hostile action towards a superhero that gets in her way. It’s an intense role, but I think Davis is up to the challenge. Although she mostly commands the Squad from afar in the comics, Waller has occasionally gotten her hands dirty out in the field, so it’s possible we may see Davis alongside her fellow co-stars shooting up their enemies.
Suicide Squad, directed by David Ayer, is set to be released on August 5, 2016 and will go into production next year.
