Why Amanda Waller Is Important To 'Suicide Squad'

Amanda Waller is a no-frills government agent who rules over the Suicide Squad with an iron fist. In the "Puppet Masters" trailer, we get a peek at how Viola Davis is bringing one of the hardest women in the DC Universe to life in the Suicide Squad movie. She's got glares so icy, they'd put Mister Freeze to shame. She's the type of woman who always seems one step ahead of everyone else, but we're actually going to take a step back, to see how her role in the anti-hero movie might be even bigger than you thought.

She might technically be on the side of angels, but Amanda Waller is no saint. Sure, she's headed agencies like A.R.G.U.S., which exists to support the Justice League, but her methods have always been less than savory. In fact, she's considered one of the best villains/anti-heroes in the DC Universe, mainly because she has no problem getting down and dirty for the greater good. She's even taken on the help of James Gordon, Jr., a creepy serial killer who becomes obsessed with her in a way that only Norman Bates would appreciate.

More than anything, Waller craves and effectively uses power. Waller even took to bio-engineering her own superheroes that would answer only to her, just in case the Justice League went rogue. Morals and ethics? These words don't exist to this puppetmaster. It wouldn't be at all surprising to find out that she's the real villain of this movie.

Waller doesn't do anything unless there's something in it for her, and she sees nothing wrong with using imprisoned meta-humans as expendable covert ops agents. One has to wonder what she's got up her sleeves in Suicide Squad. In the trailer, we see her speaking to high-ranking officers of the military, so perhaps her creation of the Squad is an effort to get even more power from the government? Maybe some experiments involving metahumans went wrong, and now Waller has offered the Squad as a solution to clean and contain the mess? Whatever her motivations are, you can bet that she'll have something to show for her efforts.

Waller is especially dangerous because she has absolutely no fear of Batman, unlike virtually everyone else in the world. In fact, when she interacted with Bats in Justice League Unlimited, she revealed just how fearsome she can be. During a standoff between the Justice League and Waller's forces, Batman effectively got her to stand down. Waller, showing that she's not only smart, but a force to be reckoned with, warned Batman to leave her and her people alone, smirking while saying, "I wouldn't probe the situation too closely ... rich boy."

Yes, Amanda Waller knows full well that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Like Deadshot says, she really is one mean lady. Not just that — she's one with a ton of leverage on some very important people.

Waller has earned the nickname "The Wall," and for good reason. Not only is she heavier set (in some iterations,) but she's a no-nonsense government official whom no one wants to cross or question because of her ruthlessness. Judging by her interactions with Rick Flag in the trailer, she's the ultimate puppetmaster and doesn't even let the good guys who work for her know what's going on. Waller says that's she's the "consequence," which is something that might have Flag simultaneously thinking twice about his loyalties, and wondering what might happen to him if he should go against Waller. That woman can inject more fear into a person than a double-dose of Scarecrow's toxins.

As you have probably deduced by now, nobody crosses "The Wall." This woman won't think twice about coming after you if you get in her way or worse, disobey her. Proof of this lies in the nanobombs that she's implanted in the necks of every Suicide Squad member. While they were originally meant to simply subdue a target, she had them rigged so that they go boom if whoever wears them acts up. She could detonate Harley Quinn's bomb, turn the poor girl into charred puddin', and not even bat an eye. After all, the Suicide Squad is there to do her dirty work and, should they mess up, keep her from being held accountable.

If you look at Amanda Waller's history, you'll see that she's always been a corrupt government official, and once even managed Lex Luthor's campaign to become President of the United States. She performed the latter by effectively covering up every dirty little deed that Luthor wanted to hide. She's always been linked to shadow organizations, so it's not a stretch to think that maybe she's secretly working with an anti-metahuman group, or even for Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor, considering how they're in a shared universe. Whatever the case might be, we're excited to see whether or not "The Wall" will crumble or hold steady in Suicide Squad.