Several incarnations of Hawkman have appeared in DC Comics, all of them characterized by the use of archaic weaponry and by large, artificial wings, attached to a harness made from the special Nth metal that allows flight. Most incarnations of Hawkman work closely with a partner/romantic interest named Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman.
Hawkworld, along with its contemporaries (The Man of Steel, Batman: Year One, Aquaman Special #1, and Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn), Hawkworld was intended to revise DC Universe continuity for the post-Crisis continuity that explored the origins of the Silver Age Hawkman and Hawkwoman. However, DC editors decided that it was not just an origin story; rather, it was occurring in the present, concurrently with the rest of DC's output (similar to Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals and The Power of Shazam!). This meant that the Hawks' entire history from the Silver Age of Comic Books onwards had to be disregarded, including their memberships in the Justice League (including his brief membership in Justice League International). This began a series of nonstop retcons to the Hawkman characters that ended with a new Hawkman returning in the pages of JSA.
The Golden Age Hawkman was Carter Hall, an archeologist who was the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian prince, Khufu. He and Hawkgirl used the same tools displayed in his museum to fight crime.
Like most Golden Age heroes, Hawkman disappeared from print after World War II. In the Silver Age, DC introduced new versions of several characters. The new Hawkman and Hawkgirl were police officers from the planet Thanagar who stayed on Earth to help human police forces, and the Justice League, deal with supervillains.
Since DC’s continuity was rewritten in the 1985 series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Hawkman’s history has become muddled with several new versions of the character appearing throughout the years, some associated with ancient Egypt and some with Thanagar. These versions of the character have starred in several series of various durations.
Many thanks to Wikipedia and here is the "Hawkworld" cast:
Tahmoh Penikett as Hawkman (Katar Hol):
Katar Hol was a young police officer on the planet Thanagar, and a child of a privileged family. But his homeworld had the policy to conquer and mine other worlds for their resources to maintain its high standard of living, and Hol realized that this was wrong. He rebelled against the system, and was sent into exile. However, 10 years later, he escaped and got the help of Shayera Thal, a young officer from a lower class of society, to uncover and defeat the renegade police captain Byth. As a result, Hol was reinstated in the Wingmen Force and given a new partner, Thal.
Tahmoh Penikett did a great job on "Battle Star Galactica" TV series, he has the acting skills to play the lead as Kartar Hol in "Hawkworld" easy and just imagine him in all the Hawkman get up, he was born for the part, damn and can he act!
Rachel McAdams as Hawkwoman (Shayera Thal):
Shayera Thal II is the illegitimate daughter of Shayera Thal I and Andar Pul, Thanagar's Administrator of Protection and close friend of Shayera I's father Thal Provis. Andar Pul had seduced the then 13-year-old Shayera I and her pregnancy became a political scandal that threatened to put her father's political activities to a hold. As a result, Shayera II was abandoned in Downside by her mother shortly after her birth.
Later after that, Thanagarian policemen partners Katar Hol and Shayera Thal arrived on Earth (following an attempted Thanagarian invasion of Earth) with the mission to capture the Thanagarian shapeshifting criminal Byth. They were part of a force which used the hawk as their symbol, and also had a winged, gravity-defying harness. Together they fought crime on Earth and corruption on Thanagar for some time, eventually falling in love and deciding to remain on Earth and build a life there rather than return to their homeworld. Then came the events of Zero Hour where Katar was merged with Carter and Shiera Hall in a new Hawkman version, who was then possessed by a creature from the red known as the Hawk Avatar. Fundamentally changed, he swore off his relationship with Shayera, and she retired from superhero work to become a cop in Detroit. The "new" Hawkman adventured for a brief time before going insane and being banished into limbo.
Rachel McAdams has what it takes to be Hawkwoman, though not so good in her latest movie "Sherlock Holmes" she is a fine actress, with many films under her belt, my personal favorite is "Red Eye" with Cillian Murphy. Anyway she looks like she flew out of the Hawkworld pages and would own this part hands down.
Now all the other Hawkmen below are various Thanagarian policemen in the feature film or TV mini series, whatever "Hawkworld" suits best:
Gerard Butler:
Gerard James Butler is a Scottish actor known for his portrayal of King Leonidas in 300, The Phantom in the The Phantom of the Opera, One Two in RocknRolla and Clyde Shelton in Law Abiding Citizen. He is actually my all time favorite Hawkman and i have picked him in various castings like the "Justice League of America" The Movie casting, perfect for Hawkman and would be great in some kind of Hawkman role in "Hawkworld."
Michael Fassbender:
Michael Fassenbender is a German-born Irish actor. He played Azazeal in the Sky One television series Hex. Other credits include Band of Brothers and the Zack Snyder epic film 300 in which he plays Spartan soldier Stēlios ("Then we shall fight in the shade"). He also played the role of Michael Collins opposite Mel Smith as Winston Churchill at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Mary Kenny's play Allegiance.[1] The play was directed by Brian Gilbert and produced by Daniel Jewel. In 2008, he played Bobby Sands in Hunger. Great actor, got that Hawkman about him, he would totally own a Thanagarian police officer in this movie.
Karl Urban:
Karl-Heinz Urban is an actor from New Zealand. He is best known for playing Éomer in the second and third installments of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the 2009 film Star Trek. He played Vaako in The Chronicles of Riddick and the Russian assassin Kirill in The Bourne Supremacy, and won acclaim for his performances in New Zealand films The Price of Milk and Out of the Blue. My favorite of his acting ability was in Pathfinder, totally loved him in that and he'd make one of the best Hawkmen ever.
Vincent Regan:
Regan has over 15 stage roles to his credit, most recently as Achilles in Troilus and Cressida at the Edinburgh International Festival. In association with The Royal Shakespeare Company, the festival presented director Peter Stein's strongly cast and visually striking production. He is famous for Ancient Greece-based films 300, in which he played the Captain, and Troy, where he played Eudorus, Achilles' second in command. Great actor, would bring the magic to a role in "Hawkworld" easy.
Kevin Sorbo:
Kevin David Sorbo is an American actor best known for the roles of Hercules on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Captain Dylan Hunt on Andromeda. Done many other things and yes i have cast him as Hawkman in the "Kingdom Come" casting but hey its another universe and he was born to play some kind of Hawkman character.
James Cosmo:
James Cosmo is a prolific Scottish actor, with numerous credits in film and television since the late 1960s and Cosmo is still currently acting.
He is most familiar to international audiences for his film roles as Angus MacLeod in Highlander, Campbell in Braveheart and as Father Christmas in the adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Over the years he has also had roles in films such as Trainspotting, The Last Legion, and Troy. Cosmo also voiced the character of HudMaSpecs, a hulking hunter. He would make a great addition with his acting caliber and make this movie even richer.
Sam Worthington:
Samuel Henry J. "Sam" Worthington is an English-born Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Jake Sully in the 2009 film Avatar and Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation. He will play Perseus in the 2010 feature film remake of Clash of the Titans to be released in March. This was a HAWK pick and i can truly say he would make a great Hawkman.
Malin Akerman:
Malin Maria Åkerman is a Swedish-born, Canadian film actress and model. She has appeared in such films as 27 Dresses, Watchmen, The Brothers Solomon, The Proposal, The Heartbreak Kid, alongside Ben Stiller and Michelle Monaghan and Couples Retreat alongside Vince Vaughn.
Shes had a feel for DC comic books, so why not again. She would be a good Hawkwoman and do the role justice and yes you guessed it another one of HAWKS.
Clive Owen:
Clive Owen is an English film and television actor. He won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his appearance in the 2004 film, Closer. Since then he starred in many movies and my favorite of course is "Sin City" which is based on Frank Millers comic book. Yep, HAWK strikes again and i can see why, Clive would be amazing as a Hawkman.
Brian Blessed:
Brian Blessed is a English actor, author and adventurer. He is known for his loud, booming voice and "hearty, king-sized portrayals". Been in many feature films and of course the classic comic strip movie "Flash Gordon." Come on, it would be fantastic for him to play another type of Hawkman in "Hawkworld," everyone would kill to see that.
David Wenham:
David Wenham is an Australian actor who has appeared in movies, television series and theatre productions. He is known in Hollywood for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Carl in Van Helsing and Dilios in 300. He is also known in his native Australia for his role as Diver Dan in SeaChange. What can i say, i forgot to put this pick in originally, good old OZ man told me off and damn good job, he'd make an amazing Hawkman.
Alexa Davalos (Kendra Saunders):
A new Hawkgirl was introduced as part of the 1999 revival of the JSA monthly title. The new Hawkgirl is Kendra Saunders, granddaughter of the Golden Age Hawkgirl's cousin, Speed Saunders. Hawkgirl would continue to appear regularly in the monthly JSA series and later in the Hawkman monthly. In 2006, the ongoing Hawkman monthly series was renamed Hawkgirl starting with issue 50 as part of the One Year Later jump forward, with Kendra replacing Hawkman as the lead character. The Hawkgirl comic book series was cancelled at issue 66. She was a member of the Justice League of America at its relaunch but has left the team due to injuries sustained in Final Crisis.
Yeah i know she shouldn't be in "Hawkworld," just cool to put her up in this and i have FROGMAN to thank for this pick, great pick and Alexa would own this part, loved her in Riddick, she would make the greatest Hawkgirl.
Andy Serkis as Byth:
Originally, Byth is portrayed as a Thanagarian thief who styled himself as a "Master Thief". Unlike others of his trade however, Byth stole not for profit, but for the thrill of the challenge. He learned of a scientist named Krotan who had invented a Changeling Pill that would endow others with the ability to shapeshift into the form of any animal. Byth broke into Krotan's laboratory and consume the pill. After committing a series of crimes, he steals a spaceship and escapes to Earth. The Thanagarian authorities assigned policeman Katar Hol and his partner - his wife Shayera - to track Byth down and bring him to justice.
Post-Crisis: In the Hawkworld mini-series, Byth is a corrupt Wingman commander who manipulated Katar Hol into killing his father, aiding his rise to power. Now Administrator of Protection, he gains his shape-shifting powers from a new drug called Krotan. Katar Hol, with the help of Shayera Thal, uncover his schemes and Byth escapes arrest. He flees to Earth and ran some criminal operations in Chicago. He supplied Carl Sands with a shadow generator. He is later captured by Katar and Shayera, and returned to Thanagar.
Yup, you can't get better than Andy Serkis for this part, he would bring the character of Byth to all new levels and the movie too!
Hawkworld The TV spin off series or mini series:
Tahmoh Penikett:
Rachel McAdams:
Byth CG and the voice of Andy Serkis:
Note: Thanagar is a planet in the DC Universe. Thanagar is the original home of the humanoid Thanagarian race, noted for the discovery of gravity defying Nth metal. The planet is in orbit around the star Polaris (although is sometimes quoted as being in the Polaris Galaxy).
Remember to watch
Michael Shanks as Hawkman in the "Smallville" version next week 5th of February on CW Network!
LEEE777 - By the way the Golden age Hawkman & Hawkgirl ain't there as i have them planned in something else, plus different time period and yes Hawkman history is very confusing with all the different versions and Crisis/Zero Hour.
Hope you all liked and enjoyed this, i have been working on this and dropped everything else since i heard of the tragic event of THEHAWK. I was doing this for him and was going to dedicate it to him, but thankfully your alright HAWK and i'm so thankful you are fella, get better soon dude and we'll all be waiting.
THEHAWK has flown back!