The Threat the Suicide Squad was Meant to Face

Amanda Waller is a bad, bad woman, and the casting of Viola Davis was spot on perfect.  I’m pretty sure they used the first season of “How to Get Away with Murder” as her job application for the role, and she plays the character beautifully, and that actually brings us to the character of Amanda Waller in the context of the film “Suicide Squad”.  In the film, Amanda Waller sells the U.S. government on a team of “meta-humans” that could possibly address problems that arise from the existence of beings like Superman, Zod, and Doomsday.

However, looking at the team, I can’t help but notice that none of these characters alone, and certainly not combined, could really address any of those problems.  Amanda Waller is a sales woman, and a very good one.  So good, that she manages to sell the government on this team to such a degree of efficiency that they don’t ever bother to look under the hood of the proverbial car.  This team is designed to take out a known threat, that’s for sure, but that threat isn’t Superman.  Looking at the team for what they are, not just face value like the film does, we see villains with very specific skill sets and psychologies.

Deadshot, in the film, is in prison after his capture by Batman.  He is an expert marksman, Olympic level athlete, and professional killer, and ostensibly has the most to lose as he has a family he wants to get back to, making him more susceptible to Waller’s manipulation.  Captain Boomerang is in prison after his capture by the Flash, and is an above average athlete, brawler, expert at hand projectiles, more than a little crazy, and very willing to kill.  Killer Croc is a mutant lizard man with rage issues who kills and eats people, and is a long established foe of Batman.  He has significant strength and is very tough to physically injure.  Rick Flagg and Katana actively work for Waller and have very specific skill sets that allow them to challenge even the most well trained superheroes.  Note what I said: well trained.  Diablo has pyro-kinesis and a huge guilt complex where in he wants to make amends for past wrongs.  He’s here to offer a bit more “meta” to a meta-human team.  And then you have Harley Quinn, who is in prison after her capture by Batman, is an Olympic level gymnast, certifiably insane, homicidal and a lightning rod for one very particular villain.

Enchantress’ inclusion on the team was as a wild card and a hail-Mary on Waller’s part to lend more credibility to the idea that this team has some real power behind it.  However there is one problem; when you take a look at the team as a whole, they can’t hold their own against Superman.  They couldn’t hold their own against Zod, who would wipe them out in short order.  They certainly couldn’t stand against Doomsday.  Now I hear you saying “But Enchantress uses magic, and all three you just named are vulnerable against magic.” Yes, however nobody knows that yet and it hasn’t been established in the films.  I also hear “Everyone you just listed is already dead.” But those are the kinds of threats she’s trying to sell the government on.  You don’t sell a weapon telling the buyer that it will stop something less impressive than the beings that almost wiped out two cities.  You tell the buyer it will stop the worst thing they’ve ever seen.

That’s exactly what she does, she sell them on that the team could take out Superman, or a Superman-like event.  But the math will not add up.

Unless it’s not Superman she’s preparing for.   The conclusion of the film makes it clear that Waller either knows Batman personally or she knows of him.  The team, their skill sets, their personalities, and what they bring to the table, especially with Harley being a draw for the Joker, are all about fighting Batman.  She is assembling an anti-Batman squad because she sees him as a bigger threat than Superman.

That might be counter intuitive to what we see in that end credits scene, where Waller provides information on meta-humans in exchange for Wayne’s “protection”, however she offers some interesting lines in that scene: “You believe in friends, I believe in leverage.”  That line is spoken in weakness.  She is seeking his assistance, and knows she’s at the disadvantage in that deal.  She’s not proud to be dealing with Bruce Wayne and whatever his protection is.  The second line is “You look tired…you should stop working nights.”  That is a hint that, like every other incarnation of Waller, she knows Bruce is secretly Batman.  She hasn’t been able to use that leverage yet, because he has resources and abilities that she finds useful.  Her Suicide Squad is actually her leverage against Batman, a “break glass when he’s no longer convenient” contingency.  Their “frenemy” relationship is further expounded on when Bruce lays out for her that she should disband the Suicide Squad or that his “friends” will do it for her.  That too is a very important line in establishing why Batman is such a threat to Waller.

Batman inflicts his will upon those he sees as enemies.  I could quote scenes in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” to support that idea, but countless comics, and 77 years of publication history already supports that: Batman does not care about personal freedoms.  For Batman, life is one big control issue, and he has to be the one in control, and that is scary for Waller because clearly he’s better at it than she is.  Remember she has to go to Bruce to make a problem disappear, which means he has experience in handling these kinds of things, because he doesn’t flinch when she brings it up.  With the knowledge that Batman is assembling his own team, we won’t see her disband the Squad, but rather beef it up with more powerful meta-humans, because to her Batman is a much greater threat…and she’s right.

 

Thanks for reading.


Goes without saying that all character mentioned above are owned by Warner Bros. and DC Comics, with Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.  Mentioning them in this article is in fair use.
Go see Suicide Squad and Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Heck watch "How to Get Away with Murder" while your at it.