Amanda Waller is quietly preparing for an eventual confrontation with Superman — and she’s doing so with a tactic the Dark Knight would approve of.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the story “The Golden Age: Part One” from Superman #29 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Phil Hester, Eric Gapstur, HI-FI & Dave Sharpe, on sale now
Amanda Waller has always been a dangerous and brilliant woman, commanding the Suicide Squad to lethal effect across the globe. With her resources and knowledge, she could bring down almost any single hero. She may have even just gained a powerful tool to deal with one of the world’s greatest powerhouses.
Waller just found a massive advantage over Superman thanks to a newly discovered type of alien radiation. By analyzing it and preparing to possibly use it as a weapon, Waller just took a play from Batman’s book.
When a mysterious hole is ripped into space just above the Earth, Superman and Superboy venture into the cosmos to fight off an invasive alien species breaking through it. Secretly watched by Amanda Waller, the encounter initially appears to be the typical kind of conflict that Superman deals with on the regular. But one of her contacts within the nearby S.T.A.R.S space station alerts her to the fact that the unique radiation coming out of the rift actually had a noticeable impact on Superman’s physiology. Although they initially close it, Waller admits this deserves more exploration. When the rift reopens and the creatures spill out of it again, Superman is genuinely injured by a blast from the aliens. Witnessing this, Waller orders the gate closed — noting that this information could be important down the line.
This is a big discovery for Waller, especially as she positions herself to have a more proactive role in the DC Universe once again. Typically, Superman is one of the universe’s most powerful figures. Any advantage over him is notable — but typically is either rare (like kryptonite) or chaotic (such as magic). Having knowledge about a new energy source that could hurt or even potentially fell the Man of Steel is a huge advantage for Waller. Considering she’s also might be set to extend her influence into worlds like Earth-3 — at least according to the events of Future State: Suicide Squad — having a Superman killer within her arsenal could serve her well. It’s the kind of tactic that Batman would do, who has become infamous for having backup plans to contend with any member of the hero community.
Notably, Waller doesn’t make any concrete plans to use this energy to bring down Superman. Instead, she primarily sees the potential use for it and orders that her contacts inform her of how the research and study of it going forward. This is what makes the decision so similar to what Batman would do, and more of the kind of tactic the Dark Knight might understand and even empathize with. While he may never want to use the weapons he’s collected and have no intent to see them used against his allies, knowing there’s a way to contend with that kind of threat is exactly the kind of thinking that allows Batman to conceive of these possible failsafe to use against his allies.
Waller preparing in a similar manner makes sense. While it’s clear that her harsher edge hasn’t softened in recent years, it’s possible that she could see the advantage in being prepared. What’s concerning is how lethal Waller is willing to be at the drop of a hat — with events like 2018’s No Justice proving that if she gets an itchy trigger finger, Waller could end up dooming entire galaxies. It’ll be interesting to see how she utilizes this possible advantage — and if she’s also been looking into other heroes as well. Considering that Jon Kent is teasing a possible death for his father, this energy source could be a key element of it. If so, then Waller could be on her way to truly become the most dangerous woman in the DC Universe.
