Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Shazam! Fury of the Gods
The events of Shazam! Fury of the Gods and its connections to the Justice Society may explain the future of a major DC character in an upcoming show. Although Zachary Levi’s titular hero doesn’t have many ties with the rest of the DC Universe beyond a couple of cameos, the established set-up was quite revealing even if the future of Shazam himself remains uncertain after a disappointing box office run. Regardless of whether Shazam’s Billy Batson joins the Justice Society or not, the team’s recruiters indicate a major status quo change that was first hinted in DC’s Black Adam.
As seen in Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ first post-credits scene, Billy Batson is approached by two familiar faces from James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker: Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee). However, rather than mentioning anything about Task Force X, it’s revealed that Shazam has been identified as a potential recruit for the Justice Society. While it’s since been revealed that the Society’s Hawkman and Cyclone were originally going to ask for Shazam’s help, the new DC appearances for Harcourt and Economos imply some pretty big changes when it comes to their boss: Amanda Waller (played by Viola Davis).
Why Is Waller Supporting The Justice Society?
Following the events of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, Black Adam was the first DC movie to reveal that Waller had an ongoing relationship with the Justice Society. Case in point, Waller is featured in the film collaborating with the team and running a secret underwater meta-prison where the heroes could presumably hold Dwayne Johnson’s powerful anti-hero indefinitely (it couldn’t). Regardless, Harcourt and Economos’ Shazam 2 appearances double down on this connection, seemingly confirming that Waller and her agents frequently support the team of heroes and its roster featuring Hawkman, Atom Smasher, Cyclone, and the late Doctor Fate.
However, this newly revealed element of Waller’s DC role naturally generates some basic questions when it comes to the director of A.R.G.U.S. For example, one might wonder if Waller is also helping the Justice League as well as the Society. After all, she was able to call the League to help tackle an extraterrestrial crisis in the final episode of Peacemaker, though the Justice League did show up late to help Team Peacemaker who’d already handled everything. However, it seems unlikely that Waller’s encounters with heroes have always been so public and open, especially considering Task Force X which frees criminals in exchange for working for the U.S. government.
What Happened To The Suicide Squad?
It’s certainly possible that working with the Justice Society became Waller’s new job following The Suicide Squad. At the end of the film, the surviving Suicide Squad members killed the massive mind-controlling alien Starro the Conqueror whose capture and torture was part of a secret project funded by the U.S. Government. As such, Idris Elba’s Bloodsport was able to leverage that sensitive information as a means to blackmail Waller, securing his freedom from Task Force X along with Ratcatcher II, King Shark, and Harley Quinn.
While Amanda Waller could have created a new Suicide Squad, she would have likely needed to start from scratch seeing as how she lost virtually all of her most capable field agents and metas in one single operation (save for John Cena’s Peacemaker). Likewise, the end of the spin-off series Peacemaker saw Waller’s own daughter Leota Adebayo outing her mother and the existence of the clandestine Task Force X to the public. As such, the odds are strong that Waller’s program was likely decommissioned by her superiors due to the exposure and bad press.
New Waller Show Can Explain Her Full DC Universe Role
Given the challenges Waller and Task Force X have been facing, it stands to reason that Waller may have shifted focus and was potentially even reassigned to managing her new meta-prison seen in Black Adam as well as supporting more public teams of heroes like the Justice Society as seen in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Assuming her history with Task Force X holds through the universal reboot that’s expected to come via The Flash, Viola Davis’ upcoming Waller series will hopefully reveal the full extent of the ARGUS director’s new role in the DC Universe (and whether the Suicide Squad still exists in some form).
