DC Reveals First Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Follow-Up Series With James Gunn

Amanda Waller is officially headed to HBO Max. On Tuesday, as part of DC Studios' reveal of its initial slate of movies and television shows, co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran confirmed Waller, a new HBO Max series with Viola Davis returning in the titular role. The show will be set in between the first and second seasons of HBO Max's Peacemaker, and will be brought to life by Watchmen alum Christal Henry and Doom Patrol's Jeremy Carver. The series was first reported to be in development in May of last year.

"So this is Viola Davis. She's coming back as her character, Amanda Waller," said Gunn during the reveal. "This is also going to have some of Team Peacemaker in it, as the regulars on the show. This basically follows up to Peacemaker and is going to be done. We have two great creatives working on it. Christal Henry, who is a writer on Watchmen and Jeremy Carver, who created Doom Patrol, have this incredibly marvelous story worked out that I think is really fantastic and HBO loves. So they're putting this all together."

It's safe to assume that the series will build upon Waller's status quo at the end of the 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. 

Who is DC's Amanda Waller?

Created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne, Amanda 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."

What do you think of the first details surrounding Waller? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!