There’s no rest for the wicked, as Viola Davis may be looking to once again return to the DC Universe.
Variety reports that the award-winning actress is in talks to star in an Amanda Waller series for HBO Max. The Emmy-winner was last seen in the Peacemaker Season 1 finale reacting to the news as her daughter, Adebayo, (Danielle Brooks) reveals that Waller is behind the creation of Task Force X a.k.a. Suicide Squad, as well as the plan to frame Peacemaker for the Project Butterfly mess. Apparently, the new series would pick up following these events.
For those unfamiliar, Amanda Waller is the director of A.R.G.U.S., DC’s top-secret intelligence agency. She’s the spymaster of the DC Universe and knows all the secrets. At her core, she’s just trying to protect the world, but she has a “by any means necessary” approach that often clashes with the superheroes she works with. Within this current DC movie universe, her daughter is the first person we’ve seen her show any real affection or loyalty to. Not even Rick Flagg is immune to her temper, as she sent him on the doomed distraction mission at the beginning of The Suicide Squad.
Until her appearance in Peacemaker, we didn’t even know she had a family, because as far as we know Amanda Waller doesn’t actually have a life outside of A.R.G.U.S. Honestly, the mystery is one of the best things about the character. As much as I want to see a series that features Davis kicking ass and putting white male politicians in their place, I don’t think I want more details on her life. Yes, it would be interesting to see how someone becomes Amanda Waller, but also it’s kind of fun not knowing.
Other than dealing with the fallout of Adebayo putting her business in the streets and recruiting more infamous bad guys to do her bidding, I don’t know what ground this new show will cover. However, Viola has been so good as Waller, I will absolutely follow her anywhere.
The How to Get Away with Murder star is the latest in a long list of badass Black women who have played the character. C.C.H. Pounder, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Williams, Yvette Nicole Brown, Cynthia Addai-Robinson and Penny Johnson Jerald are just some of the actresses who have brought the character to life. I mention this because the DC film universe is rumored to introduce the idea of multiple Earths in the upcoming movie The Flash. So perhaps this series could be a vehicle to have all these various Wallers interact. Of course, that’s just my crazy nerd dream.
In the meantime, you can catch Viola playing another great Black superhero, Michelle Obama, in Showtime’s The First Lady, airing Sundays at 9/8c.