Though DC Universe continuity has become somewhat messy, Amanda Waller has firmly established herself as DC's version of Nick Fury in the MCU. Through projects such as Task Force X, Viola Davis' Waller has become a scheming leader that corrals disparate heroes into cohesive initiatives. While Nick Fury is a former government operative who climbed the ladder to create a new governmental response for inconceivable threats to security, the character of Amanda Waller is not typically portrayed in the same heroic fashion. Nevertheless, both are seemingly now playing the same role in their respective franchises.
Amanda Waller's first appearance in the DCEU came in 2016's Justice Society in Black Adam. Nick Fury has moments of questionable judgment throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but never feels like a true villain in the way that Waller does. The success of making Amanda Waller the DCU Nick Fury may rest solely upon DC's ability to settle her divisive presence in a Justice League-level film.
Amanda Waller Has Become The DCU's Nick Fury
Amanda Waller compiles a collection of villains including Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Bloodsport, and many others across both Suicide Squad and The Suicide Squad. She even provides Bruce Wayne with dossiers on the Justice League before establishing an underwater Task Force X black site. It's at this point viewers see Waller in communication with Aldis Hodge's Hawkman and the Justice Society of America in Black Adam. She even claims to have Superman on standby when confronting Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam himself. All of these examples point toward Waller being the new connective tissue of the greater future DCU Justice League arc. Of course, this team-building aspect mirrors the way Nick Fury amassed the original Avengers while operating out of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s many secret locations in the MCU.
Nick Fury's involvement with MCU heroes feels more natural as a result of his noble goal of trying to safeguard Earth from extraterrestrial threats. Fury never came across like he was holding the Avengers in line by force, but instead by duty. Fury also possesses the clearance and jurisdiction within the United States government to lead these projects, as S.H.I.E.L.D. is essentially Marvel's superhero CIA. At this point in the DC Universe, Task Force X has only been shown as an experimental program combining special operations with prison community service benefits. The DCU must still explain - in Peacemaker season 2, perhaps - why Waller would even be in charge of handling super-powered individuals not jailed inside Blackgate Prison or Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary.
Amanda Waller's Role Clashes With Some DCU Heroes
Amanda Waller's ruthless tactics are effective when keeping the villainous inmates of Task Force X in line as the Suicide Squad. At times, however, her methods prove too heinous for her staff, as well as the criminals in her detail, to acclimate to. That DC's more heroic and by-the-book characters might serve under Waller the way Avengers serve under Nick Fury simply makes no sense. Whether the DCU's Justice League could work for Amanda Waller directly or align reluctantly under a common goal is yet to be seen, but the alliance is certainly not a natural one. Waller's offscreen relationship with Superman, which is alluded to with Henry Cavill's triumphant return to the role in the Black Adam post-credits scene, seems unlikely due to the moral com and Boy Scout nature of Clark Kent.
Nick Fury has disagreements with his MCU heroes at times, such as the ethical concerns over S.H.I.E.L.D.'s face-scanning drones from Project Insight in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Nevertheless, Fury's methods can usually be understood from a militaristic standpoint at least. It never feels like Fury steps over the moral line in a way that cannot be undone. Fury never threatens the families of the Avengers, never forces a hero to the Avengers Initiative against their will, and never murders anyone for disobeying orders. Amanda Waller does all three.
How The DCU Can Fix Its Amanda Waller Problem
Despite having explored superhero infighting already with Task Force X being blackmailed by Waller on the other. The narrative can then shift to a rebellion against the tactics of Amanda Waller, while still using Viola Davis' character as the catalyst for a big superhero team-up.
Even the MCU had to enact some narrative course correction with Nick Fury. Though never directly a villain, Fury's tactics came under the microscope when it was revealed S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The MCU began adjusting Fury's role from a stubborn agency figurehead to an exiled loner on the run from the law. In his darkest moments, he banded with the Avengers in hiding during the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, before the MCU found a new character arc for Nick Fury involving the Skrulls. Amanda Waller's position will need to come under even more intense scrutiny within in order to properly solidify the DC Universe's attempt to make her the point of unification for its heroes, regardless of whether that union is designed to help her or stop her.
It will be interesting to see what DC's new leads, James Gunn and Peter Safran, have in store for Viola Davis' vicious portrayal of Amanda Waller. While her placement in the cinematic universe seems strange at the moment, DC has all the tools needed to make Amanda Waller both the ringleader and the corporate villain of the DC Universe. With her involvement in James Gunn's Peacemaker, it is also safe to assume Waller will stick around under the new behind-the-scenes regime. Whether or not Amanda Waller has the capacity to become DC's answer to Nick Fury, and whether that can work despite Waller's villainy, will depend on her actions moving forward.
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