Isabela Merced Opens Up About Her Role in James Gunn’s SUPERMAN and Why She Has a "Grumpy Demeanor"

Isabela Merced isn’t playing your typical superhero in James Gunn’s Superman. Her version of Hawkgirl, a.k.a. Kendra Saunders, comes with centuries of emotional baggage. These new details that we’ve learned are actually really cool.

Speaking on the DC Studios Showcase Official Podcast, Merced revealed that her character is the reincarnated spirit of the Thanagarian Shayera Hol, a legacy steeped in tragedy and endless rebirth, and Kendra remembers everything. Merced explained:

“Kendra is reincarnated from an alien. So, she has all those memories. The story is actually really dark, it's so f–ked 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.”

This is a very interesting direction to take the character, and it leans into the convoluted mythos that has long defined Hawkgirl in the comics. Whether as Shiera Sanders, Shayera Hol, or Kendra Saunders, Hawkgirl’s tale has always been a mix of love, loss, and reincarnation. But unlike some iterations where the character is blissfully unaware of her past, Merced’s Kendra fully remembers the trauma.

“Honestly, it gives me so much backstory and it's super helpful. But then you also have the James Gunn twist, that self-awareness and the comedy of it all. It gives me the opportunity to sort of make light of my trauma and that's what I do all the time.”

The “grumpy demeanor” she talked about is the weight of lifetimes echoing through every moment, and that fits right in with Gunn’s signature blend of dark themes and irreverent humor.

While Merced’s Hawkgirl isn’t the central character of the film, her presence shows Gunn is having with with world-building.

David Corenswet stars as the Man of Steel, alongside Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as a very bald Lex Luthor.

The ensemble also includes Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, and María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer. Milly Alcock will also appear as Supergirl, setting up her own solo film Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.

Superman is set to hit theaters on July 11, 2025.