Summary
- Huntress' experiences with recruiting villains for the Justice Society make her the perfect choice to lead the dormant Suicide Squad.
- Amanda Waller's brutal leadership style and view of Squad members as expendable create a toxic environment that hinders missions.
- With Waller pursuing her own agenda, now is the right time for Huntress to rise up and lead a new and heroic version of the Squad, focused on redemption and giving villains a chance to change.
Warning: contains spoilers for recent issues of Justice Society of America!
Batman’s daughter the Huntress is key to revitalizing a dormant DC franchise. Earlier this year, the publisher unveiled the New Golden Age initiative, which saw the original Huntress, the daughter of Batman and Catowman, reenter continuity. However, before she arrived she led a team of her own, and the Huntress’ experiences in this area make her perfect to breathe new life into the Suicide Squad, a team suspiciously absent from the DC Universe.
When the second incarnation of the Suicide Squad made its debut in the late 1980s, there was no other team like it in comics. Consisting of hardened criminals and super villains, the Squad was under the direction of the fearsome Amanda Waller. The villains joined the team with promises of reduced sentences if they were successful. However, if they ever got out of line, Waller would not hesitate to detonate special bombs placed in the necks of team members. Currently, the team is in mothballs and Waller is pursuing her own sinister agenda, meaning the time is ripe for a comeback, and the Huntress is the perfect choice to lead them.
The Huntress Had a Novel Approach to the Justice Society
In the early issues of Justice Society of America, by Geoff Johns and Mikel Janin, Helena Wayne, AKA the Huntress, has been thrown back in time, landing in our present. Readers learn that in her time, the Huntress was the leader of the Justice Society, but with a twist. In her timeline, heroes were becoming few and far between, so she began recruiting villains, offering them a chance at redemption by fighting for the Justice Society. It was a controversial move, but one that would make the Huntress ideal to lead the Suicide Squad.
The Suicide Squad Needs a New Leader
Under Amanda Waller’s direction, the Suicide Squad was a brutal and unforgiving experience. Waller’s authoritarian style of leadership does not endear her to the Squad, as well as others throughout the DC Universe. Waller also views Squad members as expendable, and she has sent more than a few to their deaths. This, combined with Waller’s worldview, creates a toxic environment where redemption is just an illusion. The villains making up the Suicide Squad are aware of this, and it can severely impact a mission. Amanda Waller is ambitious, and disbanded the Squad. She now works with the Council of the Light, pursuing a still unknown agenda.
With Waller having moved on from the Suicide Squad, now is the perfect time for a new and heroic version to rise up and challenge her. The Huntress, having reformed more than a few villains, would be the ideal person to lead the Squad. The Huntress genuinely believes that people can change and be their better selves. This viewpoint stands in stark contrast to Waller’s, which also makes Batman’s daughter the Huntress the Squad’s best leader. She would not view them as disposable, which in turn would make the Squad a more successful team and give the villains a shot at genuine redemption.