Hawkman makes his big-screen debut in Black Adam, and his complex comic book backstory will be his biggest challenge in the DCEU going forward.
Hawkman has a complicated comic book backstory, and simplifying it in the DCEU will be the biggest challenge for him. Hawkman has made his cinematic debut in Black Adam as the leader of the Justice Society, with Aldis Hodge portraying the stalwart hero. As Dwayne Johnson's plans for both Black Adam and the Justice Society's future in the DCEU begin to unfold, how Hawkman will be established is a far more convoluted prospect than other characters.
While most superheroes have undergone some level of re-invention in their comic book histories, Hawkman essentially has two different backstories from the various versions of his history. With Hawkman's two parallel origin stories being different to the point of being contradictory, the challenge for him lies in the DCEU deciding definitively which version of Hawkman it will include. With that said, there is also a strong argument that the best solution might be one that has been seen multiple times in the comics of simply combining elements of both versions of Hawkman.
Though Black Adam omits Hawkman's re-incarnation powers, this is a staple of the first Hawkman in the Golden Age of comics, Carter Hall. Originally the ancient Egyptian prince Khufu, he is re-incarnated as Carter Hall in modern times, alongside his love Chay-Ara, who takes on the civilian name Shiera Sanders Hall. After regaining his memories as Prince Khufu, Carter assembles his wing suit from Nth metal to become Hawkman, with Sheira doing the same as Hawkgirl. As Hawkman, Carter Hall is also one of the founding members of the Justice Society of America.
The Katar Hol Hawkman is a Silver Age rebooted version of the character and a cop on the planet Thanagar, Katar's wings created his father Paran Katar from Nth metal. Katar and Shayera Thal would eventually be deployed to Earth on a mission and decide to stay as the heroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Clearly, these two Hawkman backstories are quite divergent and remain among Black Adam's unanswered questions. Even within the two Hawkman origin stories, there have been numerous variations and re-inventions applied to each, while different adaptations have had to pick and choose which versions to follow. Meanwhile, Hawkman's first big-screen appearance in Black Adam leaves a fair amount of flexibility for his future.
