James Gunn has seemingly shown Amanda Waller the door as a part of his latest DCU release. Viola Davis' ruthless government official is one of the few elements from the now-defunct DCEU to transition into Gunn's new interconnected comic book canon. She is still confirmed to return to the franchise with the long-in-development Waller series, but, for now, the new DC head has found her replacement.
As a part of Gunn's newly released Peacemaker Season 2, the Superman filmmaker (and Peacemaker showrunner) introduced audiences to a new Waller-like figure in the form of Frank Grillo's Rick Flag Sr. After making his DCU debut with the release of Creature Commandos, and then returning once again in this summer's Superman, Flag went full villain in his revenge-fuelled pursuit of John Cena's Christopher Smith.
Flag's villainous turn cemented him as the franchise's next Amanda Waller. Like Waller, Flag had always been a morally gray cog in the governmental machine; however, in Peacemaker Season 2, the character flips a switch, crossing lines that perhaps someone a little more hero-leaning would not (just like Waller).
Waller's ruthlessness has been put on full display on-screen to this point, as she assembled Task Force X for several missions with no regard for whether they live or die.
Flag finally reached his Waller-like potential in the Peacemaker Season 2 finale. In that episode, fans left the character as he abandoned one former Task Force X member, Peacemaker, on his new extra-dimensional prison planet known as Salvation.
This, of course, all followed Flag's aligning with the terrifying Lex Luthor. Rick Flag visited the megalomaniac supergenius from within prison, striking a deal with the Superman big bad for information on inter-dimensional travel. This sets Frank up as Lex's next major collaborator, and potentially paves the way for Lex to start pulling the strings of the U.S. government's strategy regarding metahumans from behind the scenes.
Flag's allegiance with Lex is a total Waller move. Much like Grillo's character, Viola Davis' ARGUS agent is not above working with DC's worst of the worst, as long as it furthers her personal agenda.
And the similarities do not stop there. In fact, Rick now sits in the seat Waller once did, as the director of ARGUS. After Waller was pushed out of the government organization, Flag took over.
Davis' Amanda Waller has been confirmed to return in the still-in-the-works Waller HBO Max series; however, no official details have been disclosed about Grillo's next appearance as Rick Flag Sr.
What's Next For Rick Flag in the DCU?
Rick Flag is seemingly being set up as one of the next major villains in the DCU, yet James Gunn has not confirmed where the character will next appear.
He will seemingly have a significant role in the DCU going forward, however. The character teaming up with Lex Luthor is sure to come back in Superman 2: Man of Tomorrow. However, the movie is expected to focus more closely on David Corenswet's Man of Steel teaming up with Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor rather than fighting him.
The more likley place Rick Flag Sr.'s story will continue is in whatever serves as a direct follow-up to the Peacemaker story.
Gunn has said that a Peacemaker Season 3 is not in the works, but its overall narrative will come back to be vital for the overall DCU story over the next couple of years.
The first chapter of the franchise appears to be leading toward an adaptation (of sorts) of the Salvation Run comic book series. Given that Grillo is the warden of this other-worldly prison, he will likley remain the face of Salvation long into the franchise's future.
