Today marks the 25th anniversary of the first DC Comics appearance of the third incarnation of Hawkgirl, Kendra Saunders, who will make her live-action debut in James Gunn's Superman next month.
Isabela Merced (Madame Web, The Last of Us) will play the winged hero, who will be introduced as a member of the "Justice Gang" in the movie along with Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi).
Gunn has now taken to social media to share a new behind-the-scenes look at Merced from the set of the DCU reboot, while acknowledging the "complicated" history of the character.
We're not expecting Kendra's origin to be explored to any significant extent in Superman, although Merced did confirm that certain aspects of her backstory will be retained during a recent interview.
"Kendra is reincarnated from an alien. So, she has all those memories. The story is actually really dark, it's so f*#*ed up that I wonder how they're going to handle that when it comes to addressing that. I think she carries all of the memories, and the traumas, and the mistakes of her past lives in her body, wherever she goes, so she has a little bit of a grumpy demeanor."
We're now just under a month away from the release of Superman, and BoxOfficeTheory.com recently shared their early forecast for the movie's opening weekend.
Based on factors such as ticket pre-sales and trailer views/reactions, the site is predicting a domestic debut of between $140 million and $185 million. There's obviously quite a bit of space between these figures, but anything over $140 would likely be viewed as a fairly strong start for the movie.
Superman also stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.
Sara Sampaio is on board as Lex's assistant/lover Eve Teschmacher, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell will play "Ma" and "Pa" Kent, and Milly Alcock's Supergirl has been confirmed to make her debut ahead of her own Woman of Tomorrow movie.
"And that’s a wrap," Gunn posted last year when filming concluded. "God bless our cast and crew whose commitment, creativity, and hard work have brought this project to life. I set out to make a movie about a good man in a world that isn’t always so much. And the goodness and kindness and love I’ve encountered on a daily basis on the set has inspired me and thrust me forward when I felt too spent to move on my own.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It has been an honor. The destination has been Superman, but the journey has been the toil and the laughter and the emotions and ideas and magic we’ve shared together on set - and for that I am forever grateful."
You can check out a synopsis for the movie below.
"In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind."