Who might DCU's new Hawkgirl be? Speculations explored as James Gunn confirms organic wings in Superman

A word can create so much buzz that we can feel the digital vibrations. It was the case with the Superman director's response he recently gave to a fan when he asked about Hawkgirl's wings in a Threads post.

We saw in the recent trailer that she will be joining forces with the Kryptonian in the first film of Gunn's DC Universe. As she appeared taking flight, that fan asked if her wings were metallic or organic. To that, the director simply confirmed they are organic.

That created a stir among the netizens, and they are now speculating what version of Hawkgirl is going to be there in the upcoming movie.

The character first debuted in the July 1941 issue of All Star Comics, but the face behind that mask first appeared a year before it as Shiera Sanders Hall, the love interest of Hawkman, and later donned Nth metal wings.

The Superman director has all but confirmed it's Kendra Saunders

There's a barrage of news coming and going now and then, so chances are, fans might have missed this bit. But James Gunn almost confirmed in one Threads post last June that Isabela Merced will be portraying the Kendra Saunders version of the character.

In his post, the Superman director wrote,

"Today is the anniversary of Kendra Saunders’ first appearance as Hawkgirl! While Kendra took flight in JSA SECRET FILES #1 in 1999 under writers James Robinson and David S. Goyer and artists Louis Small Jr. and Michael Bair, Hawkgirl first hit stands in 1940 as Shiera Sanders-Hall in FLASH COMICS #1 written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Dennis Neville. So excited for @isabelamerced to don the wings in @Superman ! (Art from Hawkgirl #2 by Adriano Lucas & Amancay Nahuelpan)."

Though he doesn't explicitly mention this, it is clear that it is Kendra Saunders. Isabel has appeared in Marvel's Madame Web (2024), for which she kept her casting hidden from DC Studios but implies that it helped her prepare for her upcoming role.

Is there a Hawkgirl version having real wings in DC?

The character does have a version having organic wings, Shayera Hol. Though James Gunn isn't likely bringing her in for Superman. This version of the character has most famously appeared in the DC Animated Universe's Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

She is a part of the Thanagarian race, where the modern members have a pair of wings growing from their back. Interestingly, she didn't need flapping to get that flight; that's not really organic, now is it? Apart from her flight ability, she had other characteristics that came with her race, including super strength, durability, and more.

Interestingly, she was the second Hawkgirl but the first Hawkwoman, a character who first appeared in the February/March 1961 issue of The Brave and the Bold. Other than Hol, Sharin Parker and Shayera Thal had picked up this mantle, although the former did so following her mind wipe, so we can say she was made to.

Additionally, Shayera Hol briefly joined the Justice League International, but her Kendra Saunders version wasn't a part of it. However, we saw Guy Gardner in the Superman trailer. So, this could be Saunders' first outing with the group.

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