Viola Davis earned acclaim from DC fans for her performance as Amanda Waller in The Suicide Squad, a role she briefly reprised in the Peacemaker spinoff series. Now, Davis is poised to take the spotlight in a new HBO Max series featuring the cunning Amanda Waller.
Davis made her first appearance as Amanda Waller in David Ayer's Suicide Squad, which was followed up by a loosely connected sequel/reboot from James Gunn titled The Suicide Squad. While Davis' Waller was a central and powerful figure in both Suicide Squad films and Peacemaker, she still played a supporting role compared to characters who were actually part of each project's main roster of villains.
Now, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Davis is in talks to return as Amand Waller in a new Peacemaker spinoff that is being developed for HBO Max. According to THR, the potential series would build on Davis' appearance in Peacemaker, but specific plot details were not divulged. The new spinoff series will be written by Christal Henry, who may be best known for penning an episode of HBO's Watchmen series. Henry will also serve as an executive producer alongside Gunn, Peter Safran, and Davis herself.
For the uninitiated, Davis' Amanda Waller (like her comic book counterpart) is an intelligence officer responsible for managing Task Force X, a covert team of incarcerated supervillains who have been recruited to carry out risky missions that the U.S. government would prefer to avoid being attached to publically. The supervillains in question are offered reduced sentences in exchange for their service, but any failure to comply with Waller results in death by means of a small explosive device implanted in the base of their skull. While the team remained one of the government's biggest secrets, Peacemaker season 1 concluded with Waller's daughter, Danielle Brooks' Adebayo, exposing Waller and her operation.
So, the new Peacemaker spinoff certainly has a lot of build on, though it's not clear that Waller's exposure is the story element that will be further explored in the developing series. Still, Davis' performance as Amanda Waller, as previously mentioned, was widely-praised, and audiences will likely be thrilled to learn that the character could potentially return in the future.
Still, it is worth noting that at this time, Davis is reportedly in talks to join the project, so it seems nothing is certain until she signs the dotted line. However, the fact that Davis is lined up to produce the series and a creative team is already assembled bodes well for the Peacemaker spinoff.
Peacemaker season 1 is now available on HBO Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter