Batman, Amanda Waller and General Eiling

Chosen to head Project Cadmus for the US Government, Amanda Waller believes the Justice League has grown too powerful and is now a potential threat to the safety of human kind. She recruits General Wade Eiling and other like-minded individuals to help develop weapons capable of stopping even the JLU. Remember in the Vandal Savage/Future Superman review, when we said the Batman in the set had been released four times before? This is one of those times. We're not going to bother saying anything else about him. Moving on to the two figures that are the reason anyone bought this set, we start with Amanda Waller. Born in East St. Louis, Rhodes Scholar, PhD. in Political Science, served in intelligence under three administrations. Head of Project Cadmus and the director of her own off-the-books black ops team known as "Task Force X," Amanda Waller is a normal human woman who can still stand up against the superheroes and supervillains of the world. She's such a stony badass that when Batman himself tried to intimidate her, she taunted him with his own secret identity. Of the many things the Green Lantern movie got wrong was its portrayal of Amanda Waller. Angela Bassett may have had the right (lack of) height to play Waller, but she's way too slender. Waller is short, but she's thick: you need a girl who looks like she could grab someone by the collar and throw them out the door if need be. Think Roz from Night Court or Shirley from Community. This toy gets it right, standing barely 4" tall but being just as wide as Batman - and has a chest that even Power Girl would find excessive! The Wall was voiced by CCH Pounder in Justice League - another actress who would have been a great choice to play her in live action. The figure's short flattop is perfectly on-model to the show, but she's missing the necklace she always wore. It can't have been a worry about molding it, since her sculpt is already 100% unique, so it must have been a paint issue. The figure swivels at the neck, shoulders, waist and hips. The second figure of note in this set is General Eiling. Clearly, "of note" is a pretty low bar. Wade Eiling is career Air Force, and was the man behind the experiments that created Captain Atom. Being something of an utter wanker, he also married Atom's wife while he was missing, and acted as a father to his kids. "Sorry I exploded your pop, kid. Now excuse me, your mother and I need to do something upstairs in the bedroom." Class act. The General is wearing his uniform, which means this is a toy of a guy in a suit. Because the body is reused (from The Question), most of the details are painted on: the epaulettes on his shoulders, the stripes on his sleeves, the pins on his tie and lapels, and the medals on his chest. The shirt, tie, and lapels are sculpted. Apparently the DC Universe has different regulations than the real world, because Air Force guys wear blue uniforms, not green. General Eiling was voiced by JK Simmons - you know, J. Jonah Jameson/The Yellow M&M? Yeah, him. He also played a general in Arrested Development, but that was the army, not the Air Force. The figure does look a little bit like Simmons, but there's no knowing whether Eiling was designed that way before or after Simmons was cast. Was it intentional, or just a coincidence? The figure only moves at the neck, shoulders and hips. Amanda Waller and General Eiling make sense to be bundled together: they both work for Cadmus and they both have a mad on for superheroes. If Mattel were smart, though, they would have made the third figure Dr. Emil Hamilton, the scientist from STAR Labs who was a good friend of Superman's, and who's never had an action figure before. -- 07/17/13

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