Draft:Waller (TV series)

Waller is an upcoming American television series based on DC Comics featuring the character Amanda Waller. Produced by DC Studios, it will be the second television series in the DC Universe (DCU) and a spin-off from the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Suicide Squad (2021) and series Peacemaker (2022–present). Following the end of Peacemaker, Waller continues the story of Amanda Waller and "Team Peacemaker". Christal Henry created the series and serves as showrunner with Jeremy Carver.

Viola Davis reprises her role as Amanda Waller from the DCEU franchise, including The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, starring alongside Steve Agee. Henry began work on the series by May 2022, before The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker writer/director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran became co-CEOs of DC Studios that October. They confirmed in January 2023 that the series would continue as part of the new DCU, by which time Carver had joined the project.

Waller will be released on the streaming service Max. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

Cast and characters

 * Viola Davis as Amanda Waller: The director of A.R.G.U.S. who runs the Task Force X (Suicide Squad) program
 * Steve Agee as John Economos: An A.R.G.U.S. agent who is an aide to Waller

Additionally, Danielle Brooks is expected to reprise her role as Waller's daughter Leota Adebayo from Peacemaker (2022-present).

Background
James Gunn was hired in October 2018 to write and direct The Suicide Squad (2021), a standalone sequel to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film Suicide Squad (2016) which retained some cast members but otherwise told its own story. He worked with producer Peter Safran, who also produced the DCEU films Aquaman (2018) and Shazam! (2019). They later expanded The Suicide Squad into a spin-off television series, Peacemaker (2022–present), for the streaming service HBO Max. Discovery Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged in April 2022 to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary. Gunn and Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of October 2022. A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun working with a group of writers to develop an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe (DCU) that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU. Gunn and Safran said some cast members would return from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker in the DCU, and a "rough memory" of those events would remain.

Development
In January 2021, before the release of The Suicide Squad, Gunn said he had ideas for more television spin-off series beyond the then-in-development Peacemaker, and DC Films president Walter Hamada said a month later that they had plans for more projects with Gunn. In May 2022, a series for HBO Max was revealed to be in development featuring the character Amanda Waller, with Christal Henry writing and serving as executive producer alongside Gunn and Safran. On January 31, Gunn and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. The second project in the slate was Waller, which Gunn said would be a continuation of Peacemaker because that series' second season was delayed while Gunn focused on the rest of the DCU slate. Henry was revealed to be one of the writers working on the overall story for the DCU, and was set as co-showrunner of Waller alongside Jeremy Carver. The series was expected to be released as an "aperitif" for the DCU before the film Superman, which was scheduled for release on July 11, 2025. Chris Provenzano joined as a producer by February 2024. The next month, Gunn revealed that the series had been delayed by the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes and would now be released after Superman and the second season of Peacemaker. Henry and Carver were still writing the series at that time.

Writing
The series was initially expected to build off Waller's appearance in the first-season finale of Peacemaker, in which her work as the director of A.R.G.U.S. running the Task Force X (Suicide Squad) program was made public by her daughter Leota Adebayo. It centers on Waller's relationship with Adebayo, and features members of "Team Peacemaker" returning alongside Waller.

Casting
By May 2022, when it was revealed that the series would feature Amanda Waller, Viola Davis was in negotiations to executive produce the series and reprise her role as Waller from the DCEU franchise, including Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker; Davis produces through her production company JuVee Productions. When announcing the DCU slate, Gunn confirmed that Davis would continue to portray Waller in the DCU, including in Waller. Gunn revealed in April 2023 that Steve Agee would reprise his role as John Economos from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker in the series. Danielle Brooks was reported to be reprising her role as Leota Adebyo from Peacemaker in February 2024.

Release
Waller is scheduled to be released on the streaming service Max. It was originally set to be released in 2024 as an "apperitif" before the film Superman, but was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.