Black Adam Star Quintessa Swindell Researched Dancing Techniques to Play Cyclone

By Russ Burlingame

Quintessa Swindell, who plays Cyclone in the upcoming Black Adam movie starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Pierce Brosnan, did a very different kind of superhero training than you might expect: the actor reportedly studied with expert dancers, and did some deep study on modern dance, in order to get a sense of how a character would move when constantly surrounded by powerful, swirling winds. It presumably makes for a much different version of "powerful" than the kind of MMA/kickboxing style of training that characters like Batman and Wonder Woman typically demand their actors know, and the hope is that it will make Swindell stand out as a character.

Swindell will play Maxine Hunkel, a later generation of heroes who is descended from "Ma" Hunkel, the original Red Tornado, in the comics. It isn't yet clear exactly how much of that history will remain in place, but Doctor Fate -- played by Brosnan -- is clearly at least a generation older than Swindell and her teammate Aldis Hodge, who plays Hawkman.

"It became a very personal experience," Swindell told Entertainment Weekly. "I feel like when you're moving your body, you start to feel yourself in different ways, and you want to accentuate different things. Through movement, there's an emotional release. So when I was training, I became more comfortable in my body, and really empowered in a way that I honestly didn't think would happen."

Here's the official synopsis for Black Adam:

In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam was bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming Black Adam. Nearly 5,000 years have passed and Black Adam has gone from man, to myth, to legend. Now released, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher and Cyclone.

Johnson stars alongside Aldis Hodge ("City on a Hill," "One Night in Miami") as Hawkman, Noah Centineo ("To All the Boys I've Loved Before") as Atom Smasher, Sarah Shahi ("Sex/Life," "Rush Hour 3"), Marwan Kenzari ("Murder on the Orient Express," "The Mummy"), Quintessa Swindell ("Voyagers," "Trinkets") as Cyclone, Mo Amer ("Mo," "Ramy"), Bodhi Sabongui ("A Million Little Things"), and Pierce Brosnan (the "Mamma Mia!" and James Bond franchises) as Dr. Fate.

Collet-Serra directed from a screenplay written by Adam Sztykiel and Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani, based on characters from DC, based on characters created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck. The film's producers are Beau Flynn, Hiram Garcia, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia, with Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Chris Pan, Walter Hamada, Adam Schlagman, Geoff Johns, Eric McLeod and Scott Sheldon executive producing.

Black Adam, is coming to theaters and IMAX internationally beginning 19 October 2022, and in North America on October 21, 2022.

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