Amanda Waller Series In Development at HBO Max, Viola Davis to Return
The DC universe could be getting a lot more of Viola Davis' Amanda Waller. On Tuesday, it was announced (via Variety) that a spinoff series centered around Waller is currently in the works for HBO Max, with Davis being eyed to return. Davis would executive produce the series, with Watchmen alum Christal Henry set to write and executive produce. James Gunn, who helmed Waller's previous appearances in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, would executive produce alongside Peter Safran.
While the plot of the potential series is a mystery, it is expected to build upon Waller's status quo at the end of the recent Season 1 finale of Peacemaker. In that HBO Max series, Waller's work with Task Force X and the Suicide Squad were outed to the public by her own daughter, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks). In the time since that episode aired, fans had wondered what that decision could mean for the Suicide Squad going forward, and for Waller's own role within the DC universe.
Created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne, Waller was first introduced in the pages of DC Comics in 1986's Legends #1. Although she does not have superpowers, Waller has become a formidable force in the world of superheroes, between her directing of the Suicide Squad and her roles with Checkmate and A.R.G.U.S. The New 52 continuity reintroduced a younger version of Waller, who was a member of the black-ops Team 7 alongside Black Canary, Deathstroke, and Grifter. That version of the character later formed the Justice League of America.
"As a comic book and Wonder Woman fan, I love the whole DC Comics universe," Davis previously told The Hollywood Reporter of portraying Waller. "I traded comic books as a kid so all of that appeals to me. When you dream about being an actor as a kid, that's what you dream about. That's like play acting: being the superhero, getting the gun; it plays into that fantasy."
Gunn has previously expressed plans to develop more than one television spinoff for The Suicide Squad, and had indicated that the second spinoff idea would be in a decidedly different genre than Peacemaker.
"I can't say anything," Gunn previously explained. "It is connected to this universe, and I don't think it will be the same genre as Peacemaker; it won't be as much a comedy as Peacemaker, but it will be in the same universe."
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