About

Hawkgirl is a mantle held by several superheroines, notably including characters Shiera Sanders, Shayera Hol and Kendra Saunders, in the DC Comics multiverse. Hawkgirl was introduced in a 1940 issue of The Flash. The character has been portrayed in comic books, film and television. Notably, Hawkgirl was a prominent character in the 2025 Superman movie, directed by James Gunn. Actress Isabela Merced played Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) in the film. Her role inspired social media discourse, memes and fan art for Hawkgirl following its release in July 2025.

Origin

According to the DC Comics^[1] website, Hawkgirl's first appearance was as Shiera Sanders in Flash Comics #1 by Gardner Fox, which was published on November 20th, 1939, with a cover date of January 1940.^[2]

According to Fandom,^[3] Hawkgirl "wields a magical mace and acts as a female counterpart to the superhero Hawkman." Also, Hawkgirl and Hawkman were originally Chay-Ara and her lover, Prince Khufu, two ancient Egyptians, who were killed with a knife forged from Nth Metal. Their death created "a bond between them, causing the duo to be reborn multiple times throughout the centuries."^[3]

Reincarnations of Hawkgirl, like Shayera Hol and Kendra Saunders, first made appearances in the DC Comics multiverse in 1961 and 1999, respectively.^[3]

In 2025, actress Isabela Merced was cast as Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) in the 2025 film Superman, directed by James Gunn.^[4]

Spread

On April 9th, 2015, the /r/hawkgirl^[5] subreddit was created.

On February 4th, 2017, Redditor tuqqs shared a post to the /r/batman^[6] subreddit, showing a two-panel image of Hawkgirl and Batman talking, captioned, "Stupid Hawkgirl." The post received over 5,200 upvotes in eight years (shown below).

On June 19th, 2018, Twitter / X ^[7] user @CrimsonWally tweeted four screencaps of Hawkgirl from the Justice League Unlimited cartoon, captioned, "Appreciation tweet: Hawkgirl without her helmet. I had the biggest crush on her," gaining over 14,000 likes in seven years (shown below).

Hawkgirl In Superman (2025)

Editor's Note: This section contains spoilers for Superman (2025); read at your own caution.

After actress Isabela Merced was cast as Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) in the 2025 Superman film, viral posts surfaced online about the casting.

For instance, on July 11th, 2023, Redditor legopieface shared a post to the /r/DC_Cinematic^[10] subreddit, attaching a photo of Merced as Dora the Explorer, from the 2018 film Dora and the Lost City of Gold, captioned, "Can YOU tell me who's going to play Hawkgirl in the DCU?" Over two years, the post gained over 1,200 upvotes (shown below).

On May 17th, 2025, Redditor InsiderYet shared a post to the /r/DCU_^[11] subreddit, showing Merced and artwork of Hawkgirl, captioned, "I don’t understand anyone who says Hawkgirl casting is bad." Over two months, the post gained over 4,400 upvotes (shown below).

The 2025 Superman film was released in theaters on July 11th, 2025.^[13] Hawkgirl posts featuring Isabela Merced surfaced en masse on social media soon after.

For instance, on July 13th, X^[12] user @ReignOfPride tweeted a still of Hawkgirl from the movie, captioned, "Hawkgirl makes me feel things I didn't know could be felt," gaining over 39,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Hawkgirl Killing Ghurkos

In the 2025 Superman film, Hawkgirl kills the villain Vasil Ghurkos when she drops him from the air. According to Fandom,^[15] "He tells her that she wouldn't dare to kill him, claiming that she's 'weak,' just like Superman, only for her to prove him otherwise by objecting and dropping him to his death." Her quote is, "I'm not Superman."

The death prompted viral posts about Hawkgirl, like one tweet shared by X^[16] user @mercedarchive on July 12th, who said, "This scene is so iconic," gaining over 3.1 million views and 45,000 likes in two days.

On July 11th, 2025, X^[17] user @TheTruffStuff posted a tweet, stating their belief that Ghurkos represented Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reading, "My favorite part of this movie was when they just kill Netanyahu."

On July 12th, X^[18] user @arachnidmania quote-tweeted the post with a Smiling Friends GIF and the caption, "Literally every theater when Hawkgirl said, 'I'm not Superman.'" Over two days, the post gained over 7,700 likes (shown below).

On July 13th, 2025, TikToker^[14] @znr.ae posted a Hawkgirl edit that started with the scene of Hawkgirl dropping Ghurkos, gaining over 106,000 likes in a day (shown below).

"How Zack Snyder Portrayed Female Characters vs. How James Gunn Did" Tweet

On July 12th, 2025, X^[8] user @AkkiZac019 tweeted, "How Zack Snyder portrayed female characters vs. how James Gunn did," comparing Gal Gadot's role as Wonder Woman against Isabela Merced's role as Hawkgirl. The tweet received over 32.1 million views and 11,000 likes in two days (shown below).

The tweet received pushback in viral quote-tweets in the following days, like on July 13th, X^[9] user @MaceAhWindu quoted the post, writing, "Ok now put two clips of them side by side saying normal lines since you wanna be dishonest LMFAO," gaining over 210,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Search Interest

External References