Fans got their first details surrounding Black Adam on Saturday, when the film’s star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appeared at the DC FanDome virtual convention. Among those details was a confirmation of the film’s supporting cast, which will include multiple members of the Justice Society of America — Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher. While fans were hyped about the roster, the JSA members not included on the list – particularly, Hawkgirl – were glaring. According to Johnson himself, there were initial plans for Hawkgirl to be included among Black Adam’s JSA roster, but it ultimately did not come to fruition, opening the door for Maxine Hunkel/Cyclone in her place.
Hawk Girl was 💯 in our original JSA team. Sadly, it’s a complicated story I’ll share w the fans down the road. But it opened up the door for another awesome opportunity for another actress to come in and crush the role of Cyclone. I believe it all works out how it’s meant to 🥃
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) August 23, 2020
While Johnson’s tweet obviously doesn’t provide the full context, some have begun to wonder Hawkgirl and Cyclone couldn’t have possibly been on the JSA roster together, as opposed to it being an either/or situation. With Black Adam‘s premiere still being a ways away, maybe we’ll eventually figure out why Hawkgirl was written out of the team.
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The DC Comics canon 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, a young Hispanic woman who became possessed by Shiera Hall after committing suicide. Kendra went on to reluctantly embrace her destiny as Hawkgirl, and still holds the mantle to this day.
While Kendra has made countless appearances in animation, she has only appeared once in live-action, with Ciara Renee portraying the character on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Black Adam would have theoretically mark her live-action theatrical debut, after an animated version of the character briefly appeared in The LEGO Batman Movie and Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.
What do you think of Johnson’s explanation for why Hawkgirl isn’t in Black Adam? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
