Teth-Adam has been resurrected, and his first action is to go on a rampage, defending his homeland of Khandaq from the Intergang terrorists. These swift and powerful blows drew the attention of Amanda Waller, who would make a call to the Justice Society with hopes that they would bring Black Adam in.
While the Justice Society isn’t what it used to be, with Hawkman as the only active roster member, he and Dr. Fate bring in two potential recruits for the mission. Joining Atom Smasher is Cyclone, a young lady who looks to prove herself as a capable addition to the team in intellect and her ability to keep up in a fight. Here we will be covering the basics of the Black Adam character and taking a brief glimpse into the actor behind the character.
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Powers
Warner Bros. Pictures
As her name suggests, Cyclone has aerokinesis, or the ability to manipulate air. Utilizing this power in multiple ways, Cyclone is capable of flight, both for herself and others, and using the power offensively by pushing gale-force winds to slow down projectiles and pin enemies back. This power is used exceptionally well during the film, with graceful movements on Quintessa Swindell’s part, as well as the cinematography that added the colors to help make a lasting impression on viewers.
While most would take this power at face value, Cyclone also has an extreme level of intelligence, which allows her to calculate the right amount of wind pressure needed to achieve her objective. In the comics, Cyclone had even learned how to use her powers to control sound waves, adding another powerful tool to her arsenal. All of this combined makes Cyclone an exemplary addition to any team she may find herself on, as well as making for an incredibly memorable character for the blockbuster film.
Origin Story
DC Comics
Maxine Hunkel was never going to have an everyday life. Not with her family’s history of superheroics. Her grandmother was the original Red Tornado, the lesser-known predecessor to the android character of the same name. Red Tornado’s antagonist Dr. T.O. Morrow had kidnapped Maxine and injected her with nanobytes against her will, intending to turn her into a freak of nature like her grandmother.
Maxine had difficulties adapting to the powers at a young age, often waking up in the middle of the night, having formed a tornado that separated her from her home. One of the earliest manifestations of her powers saw her destroying her grandmother’s garage with just a sneeze. Over time, Cyclone would adapt and grow to control her powers and master them with precision and power.
Personality
While her film counterpart was a more mature characterization, in the comics, Cyclone was often seen as a motormouth, going on rants and tangents and often getting excited at the prospect of working with the heroes that she had looked up to in the Justice Society of America. The film does retain the character’s high IQ, with Cyclone excitedly explaining critical components of Hawkman’s Nth Metal ship despite the fact that Atom Smasher doesn’t necessarily understand what she is saying.
Cyclone’s costume design draws from the character’s love for the Wizard of Oz. With her green and purple colors flowing through the air during her cinematic movements, one can see that Cyclone draws heavily from the Wicket Witch of the West. In the early-age comics, Maxine had even dressed up her pet monkey, Frankie, to look like one of the winged monkeys that had served the Wicked Witch. These small tidbits help to add to the character, showing that they don’t just exist in the realm of superheroes, but they are multi-dimensional with loves and interests outside of their careers.
Actor
Netflix
Quintessa Swindell takes on the role of Cyclone for DCU’s Black Adam (2022). The actor is already well versed in both realms of film and television, having played the main character in Netflix’s Trinkets as well as in the film Voyagers (2021) as Julie. They also got to star alongside Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver in Master Gardener (2022), so Swindell has shown the capability of keeping up with Hollywood mega-stars such as Dwayne “The Rock: Johnson and Pierce Brosnan. Swindell also has experience working under the Warner Bros. umbrella, having appeared in season four of HBO’s In Treatment as Laila.
Quintessa Swindell is more than capable of getting into the headspace of Cyclone, as much like the character, Swindell was often ostracized from their peers growing up, both due to their race and their gender identity. Quintessa Swindell has been very open to taking on roles outside their identity as long as they feel a connection to the character or that the character speaks to their community, such as when she played Tabitha Foster in Netflix’s Trinkets. Taking on all these roles requires a broad range and the capability to look in-depth at the character and bring the most subtle of traits to life on screen.
