Update, August 12: Called it. Waller is now reported dead at DC Studios, along with Paradise Lost, per The Ankler.
Last week, Paramount+ officially announced Ascent, a new thriller series starring and executive produced by Viola Davis, created by John Logan, and set to begin production in Los Angeles in 2027.
As I noted while covering Supergirl‘s exit as the lowest-grossing DC movie ever, the announcement all but confirms that Davis’s long-promised Amanda Waller series at DC Studios looks like it’s not happening.
And yes, the streamer scooping up Davis is owned by Paramount, the same company currently trying to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent of DC. It’s also where James Mangold landed after supposedly developing the DCU Swamp Thing. More on that below.
Viola Davis Plays A Corporate Fixer In Ascent
Ascent is described as a character-driven thriller set in the dangerous world of global corporate crisis and damage control.
Davis plays elite corporate fixer Catriona Vail, who must weaponize the ruthless skills that have made her indispensable to billion-dollar clients when her estranged daughter is in danger.
Logan, the Tony winner and three-time Oscar nominee behind Skyfall, Gladiator, Penny Dreadful, and the Michael Jackson biopic Michael, serves as creator, showrunner, and executive producer.
Michael Aguilar (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Kidding, The Departed) also executive produces, alongside Davis and Julius Tennon for JuVee Productions.
Produced by Paramount Television Studios, the series will premiere globally and exclusively on Paramount+.
‘We Won The Lottery With This One’
“I am overwhelmingly excited about this journey with the great John Logan. We won the lottery with this one!” said Davis. “Work in which both story and character are bold, awe inspiring and deeply unique is why I became an artist. We at JuVee are deeply grateful to John Logan, Michael Aguilar, and Paramount. We are ready to create magic!”
“Viola Davis doesn’t just take on roles; she transforms them. Catriona Vail is an incredibly complex character and Viola is exactly the generational talent to bring her to life,” said Jane Wiseman, Head of Originals for Paramount+. “With John Logan and Michael Aguilar behind the camera, Ascent is high-stakes television at its best.”
Matt Thunell, President of Paramount Television Studios, added, “We are honored to support the vision of our exceptional creative partners: John Logan, Michael Aguilar, and Viola Davis. We celebrate bold, original ideas, and the icing on the cake is being able to shoot Ascent here at home on the Paramount Lot in Los Angeles.”
So Much For Waller
Now line that up against the DC side of the ledger.
The Waller series was announced for HBO Max all the way back in January 2023, meant to spin out of Peacemaker, with Davis reprising the role she has played since 2016.
Three and a half years later, there is no production date, no release window, and no greenlight. James Gunn even saluted his “birthday twin” Amanda Waller on X this week without so much as mentioning the show.
Davis, meanwhile, keeps moving. Her JuVee Productions signed a first-look deal with Universal Global Television last month, and now she has committed to starring in and producing a series that shoots in 2027, which conveniently books up the exact window Waller would need.
It’s not just Waller, either. Booster Gold just lost creator David Jenkins and is reportedly being redeveloped with a new team, still with no greenlight, no script, and no star.
And the Jimmy Olsen series built around Gorilla Grodd keeps officially casting, most recently Mary Holland as the female lead, while HBO Max still won’t say the word greenlight out loud.
But hey, at least maybe you’ll get to see Waller again in animated form in Creature Commandos Season 2, whenever that releases.
Everything Long-Term At DC Runs Through Paramount
All of this comes as the $110 billion Paramount-WBD deal heads to a March 2027 antitrust trial, with Paramount now putting its 30-movie theatrical pledge in writing for AMC and Regal to gut the states’ case.
And as I reported this week, the merger agreement already gives Paramount veto power over DC’s long-term future.
Warner Bros. deals can only run two years past the merger’s closing date, and anything longer or bigger puts David Ellison’s side at the table.
That explains why Gunn doesn’t appear to have a long-term DCU plan, and it explains why actors might balk at one-and-done deals with the studio.
It’s thought to be why Alan Ritchson passed on playing Batman in Man of Tomorrow, only to turn around and sign a long-term first-look deal with Netflix days later.
Now apply that same math to Viola Davis.
She has Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards, and her own production company, so why would she park her schedule for a one-and-done Waller commitment at a studio that cannot lock in anything long-term without Paramount’s blessing? And a “studio” that has to get script approval from the HBO boss?
Paramount+ handed Davis a greenlight, a start date, and an executive producer credit. DC Studios handed Amanda Waller a birthday tweet.
Filmmakers exit the DCU
And regarding James Mangold, he signed a huge deal with Paramount and Skydance back in September to develop, direct, and produce feature film projects. He was once attached to Swamp Thing, also announced at the start of the DCU, but it’s safe to say that isn’t happening anytime soon.
From what I have been told, filmmakers are not getting along with Gunn, because Gunn wants everything to be the same and according to his own vision. It’s why Luca Guadagnino bailed on the Sgt. Rock movie.
Meanwhile, David Ayer Keeps Teasing The Ayer Cut
There’s one more layer to all of this: Davis’ Amanda Waller debuted in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, which just hit its 10-year anniversary.
Ayer marked the occasion by posting from the Warner Bros. lot and dropping unseen footage, the same week Zack Snyder pulled his own water tower photo op, as the #ReleaseTheAyerCut crowd works overtime.
Should the merger close, the call on the Ayer Cut belongs to Ellison, who would then control both Davis’ original Waller footage and the streamer where she now works.
Ascent joins an aggressive Paramount+ greenlight spree that includes the Clueless sequel series with Alicia Silverstone returning as Cher Horowitz, Laird with Kenneth Branagh, 9/12 with Jeremy Strong, Fear Not with Anne Hathaway, and Discretion with Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, plus renewals for Dutton Ranch and The Madison.
DC Studios couldn’t put Waller on the schedule in three and a half years. Paramount+ and David Ellison did it in one press release. Cue Hallelujah.
