Whirlwind (comics)

Whirlwind (David Cannon) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Tales To Astonish #50 (December 1963). David Cannon belongs to the subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. He is a recurring antagonist of the superheroes Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne. He has also been known as Whirlwind and Human Top at various points in his history.

Publication history
David Cannon / Whirlwind debuted in Tales To Astonish #50 (December 1963), created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. He appared in the 2007 Invincible Iron Man series. He appeared in the 2021 Sinister War series. He appeared in the 2022 X-Men Annual one-shot. He appeared in the 2023 Wasp series. He appeared in the 2023 Avengers Inc. series.

Fictional character biography
David Cannon was born in Kansas City, Missouri. After discovering his mutant power to move at great speeds at an early age, he turns to a life of crime. This eventually brings Cannon, using his first alias as the Human Top and pursuing his career as a jewel thief, into conflict with Giant-Man and the Wasp on several occasions. Defeated each time, Cannon then redesigns his costume and adopts the alias of "Whirlwind", and adopts the identity of Charles Matthews, chauffeur of Janet van Dyne. Whirlwind joined the supervillain group the second Masters of Evil, and participated in a plot to destroy the Avengers. He joined the third Masters of Evil, and participated in a Vermont battle against the Avengers. With Batroc the Leaper and Porcupine, he went on a mission for the Red Skull.

Cannon continues with the Charles Matthews identity, first with the intent of robbing van Dyne, later with the intent of hitting on van Dyne. In the role of Charles, he pines for Janet, making advances when Hank Pym is presumed to be dead during the run in Marvel Feature. Charles is later fired for trying to embezzle Janet's money, and Hank finally discovers that Charles is Whirlwind later on in the series, forcing Whirlwind to abandon the identity.

Whirlwind is then employed by master villain Count Nefaria and joined the Lethal Legion. Nefaria temporarily amplifies the abilities of Whirlwind and super-powered team-mates Power Man and the Living Laser before sending them against the Avengers. The effect, however, is temporary and their combined abilities are drained by Nefaria subsequently defeated by the Avengers. Whirlwind joined the third Masters of Evil in a plan to destroy the Avengers, but caused their defeat by attacking prematurely. Whirlwind later upgrades his costume when joining a new version of the Masters of Evil formed by Baron Zemo. Whirlwind partnered with the Trapster, obtained a new battle armor and weapons from the Tinkerer, and battled Captain America in an attempt to bolster his criminal reputation. He then partnered with the Tiger Shark, traveled to San Francisco to steal an experimental "psycho-circuit", and battled the West Coast Avengers. Whirlwind also shows signs of an obsession with the Wasp, as he forces prostitutes to dress in the Wasp's past costumes and then assaults them.

Whirlwind and the Trapster end up fighting, due to a bounty placed on the former by the up-and-coming criminal mastermind Ricadonna. Trapster glues Whirlwind to the floor just at the start of his spin. He continues twirling, breaking many of his bones, including his spine. He makes a full recovery and is forced to join Baron Zemo's team of Thunderbolts. After leaving them, he gathered a group of villains together and tried to extort money from the Thunderbolts' new director Norman Osborn, but was viciously beaten by Osborn and is now forced to work secretly. In Dark Reign: Zodiac, Cannon is shown as a mole for Zodiac, working as Norman's chauffeur.

Whirlwind later attacks Hank blaming for Janet's death during the "Secret Invasion" and outraged by Pym taking the Wasp codename. He is defeated by the Avengers Academy student Striker. In a conversation between Striker and his mother, it is revealed that she hired Whirlwind to stage the attack to gain publicity for Striker.

Whirlwind was recruited by the Mandarin and Zeke Stane into joining the other villains in a plot to take down Iron Man. Whirlwind receives a new costume from Mandarin and Zeke Stane.

During the "Infinity" storyline, Whirlwind was seen with Blizzard robbing banks when they are approached by Spymaster. Spymaster enlists Whirlwind and Blizzard to help him and the villains he recruited to attack the almost-defenseless Stark Tower.

Whirlwind was hired by Power Broker's "Hench" App to kill Ant-Man as part of the App's demonstration to Darren Cross. When Cross was unwilling to give Power Broker the 1.2 billion dollars he demanded for investment in the Hench app, this caused Power Broker to cancel the demo and cancel Whirlwind's assassination on Ant-Man.

During the "Avengers: Standoff!" storyline, Whirlwind was an inmate of Pleasant Hill, a gated community established by S.H.I.E.L.D. Using Kobik, S.H.I.E.L.D. transformed Whirlwind into a teenager named Scotty. When Baron Zemo and Fixer restored everyone's memories, Whirlwind went on a rampage with Absorbing Man. When the Hood and Titania show up to retrieve Absorbing Man, Whirlwind joins Absorbing Man in siding with Hood's Illuminati.

During the "Opening Salvo" part of the "Secret Empire" storyline, Whirlwind is among the villains that joins the Army of Evil. Whirlwind, Batroc the Leaper, and Living Laser attack a haggard, bearded man in torn World War II army uniform who identifies himself as Steve Rogers. He is assisted by people that appear to be Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes with both his arms.

In a lead-up to the "Sins Rising" arc, Count Nefaria using a wheelchair later forms his latest incarnation of the Lethal Legion with Grey Gargoyle, Living Laser, and Whirlwind in a plot to target the Catalyst. At Empire State University, Dr. Curt Connors reveals the Catalyst to the crowd when the Lethal Legion attacks. While Grey Gargoyle and Whirlwind attack the people present, Living Laser helps Count Nefaria to operate the Catalyst. Spider-Man shows up and has a hard time fighting them due to the fact that his mind was focused on what a revived Sin-Eater did to Overdrive. Sin-Eater shows up and starts using the same gun he used on Overdrive on the Lethal Legion members while taking their powers. All four of them were sent to Ravencroft where they started to act like model inmates. It was mentioned that Whirlwind was attacked by the inmates that he knew.

As a side-effect of Sin-Eater's suicide upon copying Madame Web's precognition revealed that Kindred was using them, Whirlwind and the rest of the Lethal Legion regained their sins and are among the villains that went on a rampage.

During the "Sinister War" storyline, Kindred revived Sin-Eater again and one of the demonic centipedes that emerged from his body took possession of Whirlwind making him one of the members of the Sinful Six.

Whirlwind was later used by W.H.I.S.P.E.R. to attack Janet van Dyne and Nadia van Dyne. Upon his defeat by them, Whirlwind offered to name the person who hired him to Janet in exchange for protection. This didn't happen as a mysterious person shot him in his cell.

At the time when Wasp was sent by Mayor Luke Cage to investigate the murders at the Raft, some dead bodies returned to life. To her surprise, she was saved by an artificial personality named Victor Shade who is possessing Whirlwind's body which surprises Wasp. It is later revealed that the Victor Shade persona was created by an older man who claims to be Hank Pym and was the one who arranged for the deaths of those inmates.<ref>Avengers Inc. #1. Marvel Comics.</ref>

Powers and abilities
David Cannon possesses the ability to rotate his body around its lengthwise axis at great speeds. He can use his powers without impairing his ability to see, speak, interact with his environment, and can never become dizzy. Moving his body at supersonic speeds grants him superhuman speed, balance, and reflexes. He is able to generate a windscreen to deflect matter. Cannon can to focus air currents generated by his rotation into a jet stream powerful enough to blast a hole through a brick wall. He has the ability to form tornadoes. Additionally, Cannon can fly like a helicopter.

 Reception 
Adam Holmes of CinemaBlend included David Cannon in their "5 Marvel Villains We'd Love To See In Ant-Man And The Wasp" list.

Other versions
Heroes Reborn
An alternate version of David Cannon appears in the Heroes Reborn reality. This version wears a streamlined suit of armor with multiple blades. He was hired by Hydra to attack Tony Stark. To this end, Whirlwind kidnapped Stark's secretary Pepper Potts and blackmailed Stark to come to the Stark International office on Long Island alone without his "bodyguard" Iron Man (unaware that Stark himself was in reality Iron Man). Going to the office without his Iron Man armor, Tony was more than ready to deal with Whirlwind without his armor. Using various gadgets to defend himself and Pepper, Stark had Whirlwind chase him down to a Stark International Lab. There Tony activated a Kinetic Intake Converter that threatened to destroy Whirlwind if he didn't surrender. Refusing to do so, Whirlwind was engulfed with the converter's energy and killed.

JLA/Avengers
An alternate version of David Cannon appears in the JLA/Avengers crossover. Whirlwind is among the enthralled villains guarding Krona's stronghold. He tries to attack Thor from behind as Thor helps Red Tornado but is shot by Hawkeye.

Old Man Logan
An alternate version of David Cannon appears in the pages of Old Man Logan. The elderly Logan awoke on Earth-616 and had a flashback to where Whirlwind, Red Skull, Baron Blood, Count Nefaria, and Spiral were standing over the dead bodies of the superheroes the day when the villains rose and the heroes fell.

In other media
Television
 Whirlwind appears in Iron Man, initially voiced by James Avery and Dorian Harewood in all subsequent appearances. This version is a servant of the Mandarin.
 Whirlwind appears in The Avengers: United They Stand episode "Command Decision", voiced by Peter Windrem. This version is a member of Baron Helmut Zemo's Masters of Evil.
 Whirlwind appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "A Brat Walks Among Us!" as a member of Doctor Doom's Lethal Legion.
 Whirlwind appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Troy Baker. Throughout his appearances, he battles the Wasp and Ant-Man is imprisoned in Big House and Prison 42 until he is killed while helping the Avengers fight Annihilus and the Annihilation Wave.
 Whirlwind appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode "Me Time", voiced by Tom Kenny.
 Whirlwind appears in the Avengers Assemble episode "Spectrums", voiced again by Tom Kenny.
 Whirlwind appears in Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, voiced by Keith Silverstein.
 Whirlwind appears in the Ant-Man episode "Not a Date", voiced by Sam Riegel.
 Whirlwind appears in the M.O.D.O.K. episode "Days of Future M.O.D.O.K.s", voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

Video games
 Whirlwind appears as the first boss of Captain America and The Avengers.
 Whirlwind appears in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by Adam Jennings. This version is among several supervillains controlled with nanites and forced to help either the Anti-Registration or the Pro-Registration side.
 Whirlwind appears in Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2.
 Whirlwind appears as a boss and playable character in Lego Marvel's Avengers'' via the "Masters of Evil" DLC pack. This version is a member of the eponymous group.

References

External links
 Whirlwind at Marvel.com

Comics characters introduced in 1963
Characters created by Jack Kirby
Characters created by Stan Lee
Fictional blade and dart throwers
Fictional characters with air or wind abilities
Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
Marvel Comics mutants
Marvel Comics supervillains