With reports that Viola Davis is in talks to return as Amanda Waller for her own series on HBO Max, the next DCEU spinoff offers an opportunity to potentially improve on both Suicide Squad and The Suicide Squad. While it'll be a while before there are any concrete details on the story, other actors involved, producers, etc., a Waller-focused show is the best chance to dive deep into her character. Since she's now the only character to have appeared in all three Suicide Squad-related projects in the DCEU, it only makes sense to shift the focus to her to see what makes her tick.
Created in 1986, Waller heads Task Force X, a.k.a. Suicide Squad, and has a well-earned reputation as one of the coldest, most ruthless characters in the entire DC Universe. Her cinematic counterpart is no exception, as Waller was introduced to the DCEU in 2016's Suicide Squad as played by Davis. Though the film received less than stellar reviews, Davis received praise for her performance in effectively bringing the character to the big screen, and she was able to reprise the role in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker.
While her DCEU appearances have shown audiences exactly what kind of person Waller is and how she operates as the Squad's leader, there has not yet been much shown about her personal motivations and how she actually came to be in such a powerful position. Though the series will likely put much focus on pushing her story forward, seeing how she responds to the events of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, it also allows a chance to go backward and showcase her journey leading up to Suicide Squad. Giving her some potentially rich character development can significantly enhance viewers' investment in her character and, by proxy, improve both films as a result.
Waller has been arguably the most important member of the Squad, considering she's the one who created it, gives the members their orders, and was even the rescue target of the team's first mission, so it only stands to reason that more should be explored with her character. While her title was never specifically said in the first film, it was clear from her connections that she was in a place of significant power, even laying the groundwork for how the U.S. government has served as an existential villain in the Suicide Squad movies. Getting to see how she worked to that point and how she came to be so ruthless, whether it was developed over the course of her career or instilled in her long before that, could give Suicide Squad a sense of retroactive payoff as something she had been working toward for much of her life.
Getting more of her background would also allow her to discover more about Leota Adebayo's upbringing and what sort of mother Waller was. Perhaps her relationship with her daughter could represent a surprising soft spot, though even then, it would have its limits. Not only was Waller completely willing to send Leota on a dangerous mission in Peacemaker against the Butterflies, but she even threatened the life of Bloodsport's teenage daughter despite knowing what it's like to be a parent herself. Getting under the surface to see what motivates someone so cold and devoid of sympathy could make for some truly gripping material.
While a Waller spinoff can and should take time to explore her backstory, such a show will likely focus on her future after her last appearance. The big unresolved thread is how she responds to Task Force X being revealed to the world, a matter further complicated for her by the fact that it was Leota who did so. Additionally, considering how The Suicide Squad wiped the lineup almost fully, the series could show how she goes about picking the next iteration of the team, thus opening the door for more DC characters to appear in live-action. However the show ends up playing out, the potential to both continue pushing the DCEU forward while also enhancing Suicide Squad and The Suicide Squad makes the Amanda Waller series an especially interesting one to keep an eye on.
