While Black Adam juggles some intense action and dramatic beats, there's also a surprisingly sweet element of the film courtesy of the Justice Society's two youngest members, Atom Smasher and Cyclone. Al and Maxine are fresh-faced heroes who spend the film bringing a light sense of levity as they adorably get to know one another and contribute to the fight against the titular powerhouse. Just because the two are some of the cutest elements of the film doesn't mean they can't hold their own when things hit the fan.
Ahead of Black Adam's theatrical debut on Oct. 21, CBR sat down with Noah Centineo (Al Rothstein/Atom Smasher) and Quintessa Swindell (Maxine Hunkell/Cyclone) to discuss the lovable rapport that the pair find in the film. They also dove into juggling darker layers with their sweeter characters, the legacy of the classic DC characters, and who they'd want to encounter from across the DC franchise.
CBR: The two of you got to be in a very different movie than the rest of the cast. Dwayne and Aldis are having this discussion of mortality, there's political discourse, and then you two get a really cute little relationship. What was that like to play together?
Quintessa Swindell: It was beautiful. For me, it came so naturally because working with Noah, he just, like, brightens up every single room that he's in. It's literally impossible not to laugh and not to joke around and just not to feel as comfortable as I possibly can. Like, [Noah] just makes everything so easy.
Noah Centineo: You gotta have that balance. You know, [the film] has got to... There has to be levity. It's super important. What a cast, man. What a group of creatives putting this thing together.
Noah, the idea of legacy is baked into your performance. Al is a legacy hero -- and you're stepping into a character who has been around in some shape or form since 1940. What was it like to play with that legacy with Al while dealing with it as Noah?
Centineo: It's incredible to be able to bring [Al] to life in costume. You know, a lot of that inspiration came from 1980s wrestling. The costume is, of course, his uncle's, so as a hand-me-down, so being able to kind of wear the suit... I didn't really want anything to do with [the] design of the suit because it wasn't really my suit. So getting that but then also building the character profile of having an uncle that was a superhero, a grandfather that was a villain, in a very precarious situation...
Coming from that, letting that nepotism -- I would like to think even privilege -- kind of [inform] the way that Al walks into a room and how he shares his nervousness or his excitement, it was just great. So much source material -- there's so much information on that. I think what's also very cool is that this film takes place before a lot of comics, and we can grow into that person. Setting that foundation in Black Adam was great.
Quintessa, you got to juggle some darker edges with Maxine but not let it define her. It's a really compelling balancing act that we only get hints of. What was that like to play with?
Swindell: That, for me, is like my bread and butter. I'm like, okay, perfect, [I'm] playing a character with such an emotional depth, and also just being of service to what was in the source material. What [Maxine's] had to go up against hasn't been easy, but she's chosen to rise above and basically just come above it. So for me, it was like, this is that moment.
This is her actively choosing, "I'm going to do this, and I'm going to be a part of this team. I'm going to walk right in the front door and be rested and who I am and still even figure out who that is." So for me, it was just incredible. I'm so thankful that I was able to play this character because these young femme film characters do not come around often.
Are there any other DC characters or corners of the DC Universe that you'd like to see these two encounter next?
Swindell: I don't think it's possible, but Watchmen in general for me is just... especially Zack Snyder's Watchmen. I want Cyclone to hang out with Silk Spectre. Cyclone would flip. We are fans of these people in this movie, so it's also nice being able to play with that.
Check out CBR's other Black Adam interviews here:
Black Adam debuts in theaters Oct. 21.