15 Perfect Superhero Casting Choices Wasted On Terrible Comic Book Movies
15. Viola Davis As Amanda Waller - Suicide Squad
Warner Bros. Pictures
Just when the DCEU needed a critical hit, Suicide Squad came around and provided the exact opposite.
The film was dreadful, failing to live up to the promise of its trailers and squandering what was obviously a brilliant premise. Compounding its flaws further was the fact that it had made several inspired casting decisions, with the decision to put Viola Davis in the role of Amanda Waller one of the film's best.
Up until 2016, Amanda Waller had been portrayed almost exclusively by CCH Pounder in various cartoons and animated films. Barely anyone had taken on the character, and while that means there's not much to compare Davis' performance to, it was still as if Task Force X's handler had leaped off the page and into real-life.
In the comics, Amanda Waller was a cold, calculating figure who would stop at nothing to safeguard the nation's security. That same ruthless streak is at the forefront of Davis' portrayal, and though it remains unclear as to whether or not she'll return for James Gunn's sequel/reboot, it would be a serious waste if she doesn't.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
