There are tons of dangerous and maniacal villains in the DC Universe, but Suicide Squad founder Amanda Waller has always been one of the more complicated ones. Waller isn’t seeking domination over Earth just to have it, she truly believes that the ends justify the means. This is why she’s created teams such as Task Force X. While her methods are brutal, Waller might just be the hero DC needs.

Readers get to see Waller’s ultimate reasoning in Suicide Squad: Dream Team #4 by Nicole Maines and Eddy Barrows. In this story, Dreamer desperately tries to stop Waller’s rise to power, which results in them having a direct confrontation in Waller’s office. It’s here that Waller explains her reasoning and her belief in what makes a true hero.

Waller argues that being a hero is about enacting real change. Simply punching out the bad guys isn’t enough to actually save the world in the long term. It’s here that Waller admits that she’s willing to do anything to save the world, that a true hero does whatever it takes to save the future, even at the cost of one’s self. This last line seems to imply that Waller is fully willing to put her own life on the line to save the world if necessary.

Amanda Waller Has Been Using The Suicide Squad For Years To Make The World Better

Suicide Squad: Dream Team #4 by Nicole Maines, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas, and Becca Carey.

Amanda Waller is a character with a surprisingly simple history. Born Amanda Blake, she grew up in Chicago, where she met her husband, Joseph Waller. She got married at the young age of 18 and she and Joseph wasted no time in starting a family. She gave birth to Joe Jr., Damita, the twins Martin and Jessie, and Coretta. While their lives weren’t exactly easy, and the family often struggled financially, they were happy. This is a far cry from who Waller would become.

Eventually, Waller lost her son Joe Jr. to violent crime. Damita was then assaulted and murdered on her way home from church. While Amanda Waller was able to figure out who was responsible, she wasn’t able to get justice due to a lack of evidence. When Joseph Waller tried to take justice into his own hands, he ended up dying in the attempt. This is when Waller swore that she’d never lose anyone ever again. While the Justice League saved people daily, they weren’t there to save Waller’s family. With no one else to rely on, Waller put herself through college and quickly entered politics.

Amanda Waller Quickly Amassed Political Power

Waller Became One Of DC’s Most Dangerous Villains Without Powers

After entering politics, Waller managed to make her way to Washington, which is when she first brought up the idea of the Suicide Squad. Waller’s idea for the Suicide Squad was honestly brilliant and perfectly fits her philosophy that the ends justify the means. There are terrorist organizations or even just hostile foreign governments that are a threat to the United States. Even if there’s a known terrorist organization, Superman can’t simply fly into another country and start busting people up. That’d be a sure way to cause an international incident, and that’s where the Suicide Squad comes in.

With superheroes unable to directly act on behalf of the United States, Waller constructs the Suicide Squad using convicted super criminals. The criminals would go out on covert missions for the United States. If they succeeded, it would count as time served. If they failed, they’d either be dead or captured.

If they were captured, the United States could deny all knowledge of it, seeing as they’re super criminals. It’s honestly a brilliant plan and one that Waller has been using for years, but it’s important to note that, at least at first, she has almost exclusively used the Squad for the benefit of America and the world.

Waller Is Trying To Save The World, In Her Own Twisted Way

Absolute Power Will Show How Far Waller Is Willing To Go

One of the biggest changes in Amanda Waller’s life was when she went to Earth-3. It’s here that Waller witnessed the Crime Syndicate ruling over the planet. The sight of an evil Justice League really opened Waller’s eyes to what the Justice League could do if left unchecked. After leaving Earth-3, she returned with big ideas. Waller has set in motion plans to gain total control over Earth and strip the superpowers of every being on the planet. While it’s certainly a brutal solution, so is sending criminals into foreign nations to destabilize governments.

Waller has always seemed to truly believe that what she’s doing is not only right, but for the betterment of everyone. Her methods are often cruel and even twisted, but there shouldn’t be any doubt that Waller wants to make the world a better place, at least in her own opinion. Waller seems willing to sacrifice everything, including her own well-being, if it means making sure there’s a planet for people to wake up to tomorrow. While the Justice League have saved the planet many times over, they’ve never permanently solved the threat of supervillains, and now Amanda Waller has.

Amanda Waller Will Do Anything To Save The World

Absolute Power Promises To Be The Culmination Of All Of Waller’s Plans

It’s unclear what the future will hold for Amanda Waller, but a few solicitations released by DC seem to imply that Absolute Power might prove to be her undoing just as much as the superhero community she despises. Waller’s methods have undeniably done good in the world, as her first use of the Suicide Squad was preventing a brutal massacre in an American airport by super-powered villains. While her methods are brutal and often cruel, it’s also possible that Amanda Waller is the only one willing to enact real change in the DC Universe, even if it costs her everything.