While the casting of David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan as Superman and Lois in Superman: Legacy caused a stir, fans were even more excited when director James Gunn revealed that a few other DC heroes are making their way into the film. Among the large slate of heroes set to appear in Superman: Legacy is Hawkgirl, portrayed by Sweet Girl’s Isabela Merced. The news is particularly exciting as it will mark Hawkgirl’s first live-action appearance in a feature-length film.
Back in 2019, fans were hopeful that Hawkgirl’s live-action film debut would occur in Black Adam. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson later debunked the rumor, confirming that Hawkgirl was a part of early plans, but ultimately was not included in the film. However, the film did feature Hawkgirl’s frequent partner/love interest from the comics, Hawkman. Aldis Hodge portrayed the Carter Hall iteration of Hawkman in Black Adam, where he served as the leader of the Justice Society of America (JSA). Like Hawkman, Hawkgirl also has more than one iteration, and Merced’s casting has raised some questions about which Hawkgirl she’ll be portraying, as well as her powers and connection to Hawkman and the JSA.
Here’s everything you need to know about Hawkgirl from DC Comics.
Hawkgirl’s DC Comics history
In DC Comics, three separate heroes have taken on the mantle of Hawkgirl: Shiera Hall, Shayera Hol, and Kendra Saunders. All of their stories are intertwined, making Hawkgirl’s history a little bit confusing. Shiera was the first Hawkgirl in DC Comics and was introduced in the 1940s as the partner of Carter Hall’s Hawkman. It was revealed that Shiera and Carter are actually reincarnations of the royal ancient Egyptian couple Chay-Ara and Khufu, respectively. The pair have been reincarnated multiple times over DC history and always end up finding each other in their new lives. Shiera and Carter are two of the most popular and well-known reincarnations in DC Comics.
Shiera entered DC Comics after being rescued by Carter. She became his superhero partner and joined him as a member of the All-Star Squadron. The pair married and had a son named Hector Hall. Later, Shiera also served as a member of the JSA. Shiera is additionally linked to the most recent iteration of Hawkgirl, Kendra. Kendra is the grand-niece of Shiera, as well as another incarnation of Chay-Ara. As a young woman, Kendra took her own life, causing her soul to leave her body and be replaced by Shiera’s soul. Despite technically being Shiera, she had Kendra’s memories instead of Shiera’s and always identified as Kendra. She also served as a member of the JSA and a partner of Hawkman, though her lost memories of her connection to Hawkman made their partnership a little uneasy.
The third iteration of Hawkgirl in DC Comics is Shayera Hol, and she is also technically Shiera Hall. Shayera was originally an inhabitant of the planet Thanagar. She was the reincarnation of Shrra, an angel who died and began a sequence of reincarnations alongside Ktar Deathbringer. On Thanagar, Shayera was reunited with Ktar Deathbringer, who had reincarnated into Katar Hol. Together, they became members of their planet’s police force and later traveled to Earth, where they took on the monikers Hawkgirl and Hawkman, though Shayera later changed her alias to Hawkwoman. However, the pair ended up dying and chose to be reincarnated as Shiera and Carter Hall.
What are Hawkgirl’s powers?
In addition to their shared history and origins, all of the Hawkgirl incarnations have relatively the same powers. As mentioned above, they all have the unique ability of reincarnation. However, their major source of power comes from Nth metal, which originated on the planet Thanagar. The metal has gravity-defying properties, giving Hawkgirl the ability to fly. It also gives users super strength, durability, and healing powers. Additionally, Hawkgirl’s weapon of choice is a mace made out of Nth metal, which can counteract magic.
It remains unclear which Hawkgirl Merced will portray in Superman: Legacy, though she’ll likely have powers similar to those listed above. With all the iterations of Hawkgirl almost blending into one, regardless of which iteration Merced plays, her character is almost guaranteed to be inspired by all three versions of the DC hero.
(featured image: DC Comics)
