Superman: Legacy's Isabela Merced Breaks Silence on Hawkgirl Casting
Tuesday was a big day for DC fans when it was announced that three more have been added to the cast of James Gunn's Superman: Legacy: Edi Gathegi as Michael Hold/Mr. Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl. Now, Merced is breaking her silence on the casting news in a new Instagram post.
On her Instagram, Merced shared an image of Hawkgirl — specifically the Kendra Saunders version of the character — along with the caption "@jamesgunn gave me the best birthday gift". Merced turned 22 on July 10th. You can check out the post below.
Merced is best known for her role as the title character in 2019's Dora and the Lost City of Gold. She also starred in Instant Family alongside Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne and appeared in 2017's Transformers: The Last Knight.
Who Is DC's Hawkgirl?
DC has had multiple iterations of Hawkgirl, who first made her debut alongside Hawkman in the pages of Flash Comics #1. One iteration is Shiera Sanders Hall, the reincarnation of the Egyptian princess Chay-Ara, and the partner of Hawkman. In the Silver Age, the pair's canon was retconned into being cosmic police officers from the planet Thanagar, with Shiera now being known as Shayera Hol. Shayera later changed her superhero moniker to Hawkwoman in the 1980s, a name she has held in the years since.
The modern-day version of Hawkgirl is Kendra Saunders, who was created by James Robinson, David Goyer, and Scott Benefiel in JSA: Secret Files #1. Kendra was a young Hispanic woman who became possessed by Shiera Hall after committing suicide, and who went on to reluctantly embrace her destiny as Hawkgirl, and still holds the mantle to this day. This will be the second time Hawkgirl is portrayed in live action, after Ciara Renée played Kendra across The CW's Arrowverse of shows.
What Do We Know About Superman: Legacy?
Per DC Studios, Superman: Legacy tells the story of Superman's journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.
"We got James Gunn and Peter (Safran) working very hard on DC, which is going to be a very big growth driver for this company," Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav explained earlier this year. "We are very bullish on DC. The Superman script first draft is done. Gunn is on a mission from god. It is a really good moment to prove out on DC what we got and how strong it is globally for long-term sustainable growth."
In addition to Tuesday's casting news, David Corenswet was recently cast as Clark Kent/Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane.
Superman: Legacy is set to debut exclusively in theaters on July 11, 2025.
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