Amanda Waller Is The Best Thing About ‘Suicide Squad’

If you’ve seen Suicide Squad this weekend, you’ve been introduced to a myriad of new characters, and the most important character is one who wears a business suit.

Amanda Waller, portrayed by Emmy winner Viola Davis, is the Director of A.R.G.U.S. and convinces the government to establish Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad. Waller presents a harsh reality, that with more metahumans appearing, bad things happen, and having metahumans available and under government control to combat these things is a good option.

In a world that is demanding better and more fleshed out depictions of female characters, Amanda Waller is as good as it gets. She is a fine alternative to a certain face painted glorified domestic violence victim. Amanda Waller is capable, highly intelligent, not portrayed as a sex or fetish object, and takes ZERO guff from anyone, no matter who they are or what they can do. None of the candidates for Task Force X have any reason to work for her, so she provides incentive. Time off their collective prison sentences, but not without a caveat, a micro explosive planted in their necks to prevent any escape attempts.

Waller’s relationship with most anyone has her in a favorable position, holding all the cards. Sitting in a room full of generals and advisers, she commands respect. Her relationship with Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) seems softer than most, but she positioned Flag to get close to June Moone, aka Enchantress, to keep a close eye on her. She even convinces Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) to do a favor for her and even offers some advice at the end of their meeting – “maybe you should stop working nights”.

If you walk out of Suicide Squad, and don’t want to see more of Amanda Waller owning every scene she is in, then you have clearly watched a different movie, and I don’t think we can be friends anymore.

Amanda Waller holds all the cards and has most of the angles covered, and she’s going to be around for a while. Viola Davis has confirmed she has signed on to play Waller for at least 3 films.

Suicide Squad is currently in theaters nationwide