The Shazam! spin-off, Black Adam, has quite the ensemble cast as of late. Months ago, we exclusively revealed details, for example that the Justice Society of America will play a major role in the Dwayne Johnson led comic book movie. So far for the movie version of the JSA, Aldis Hodge will play Hawkman and Noah Centino will be Atom Smasher. As fans patiently wait to see who will play Doctor Fate, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed the DCEU’s Cyclone!
Netflix Trinkets star Quintessa Swindell has nabbed the whirlwind role of DC heroine Cyclone! In a Twitter post, Dwayne Johnson gave his congratulations to the actress while also confirming that production will begin in spring 2021.
Comic Book History
Maxine Hunkel aka Cyclone was created by Mark Waid, Alex Ross, Geoff Johns, and Dale Eaglesham. She’s the granddaughter of the original Red Tornado and a member of the Justice Society of America. She made her first comic book appearance in Kingdom Come #2. As a 6-year-old, Maxine was once kidnapped by T.O. Morrow, the mad scientist who created the second Red Tornado, a powerful android. Morrow infects Maxine with “nanobytes” that are the apparent source of her powers.
Cheerful, bubbly, and extremely intelligent, Maxine was a 19-year-old student at Harvard University and an avid fan of the works of L. Frank Baum, particularly The Wizard of Oz, and linked works such as the musical Wicked. However, her talkative nature and know-it-all personality often alienates her peers and leave the young woman isolated. Her outcast status causes her to suffer from atypical depression. As she reached adulthood, she began to manifest unusual superhuman abilities. A sneeze demolishes her grandmother’s garage and, the next day, she awoke inside a tornado five hundred feet off the ground. The young woman soon realizes that she has the power to manipulate wind.
When the Justice Society decides to expand its ranks and provide training to new heroes, Maxine is one of the first on their list. She is invited to join the team by Power Girl and Mr. Terrific and accepts through extreme amounts of excitement. Shortly afterward, she is introduced to the rest of the JSA and her fangirl personality becomes evident in her bubbling reaction to meeting her heroes, particularly fellow teen Stargirl. During the first meeting of the group, the current holder of the Mr. America mantle literally falls into their midst and perishes. As a way to help her deal, fellow member Stargirl distracts her into building a superhero outfit.
Most recently, in the Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock, Cyclone returns alongside many other superheroes to the DC Universe when Doctor Manhattan, inspired by Superman, undoes the changes that he made to the timeline that erased the Justice Society of America and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
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