David Corenswet’s Clark Kent may be the primary draw of James Gunn’s Superman, but he’s certainly not the only superhero who’s getting time to shine in the first DC Universe movie. Joining him are Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific, Anthony Carrigan’s Metamorpho and Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl. Like her three cohorts, Merced already had superhero media experience prior to being cast in Superman, but there was one specific Way that bringing Hawkgirl to life was a big improvement over her time on Madame Web.
While taking great care to not spoil anything about the upcoming DC movie when it came up in her conversation with EW, Merced brought up how she briefly got to don a costume in Madame Web, where she played Anya Corazón. As the actress recalled:
I got a taste of the super suit, which was not fun. The tightness and the way you had to make everything look cool, but also aggressive, but also smooth, but also in a tight suit, but also you're wearing a harness...It's a lot.
Isabela Merced didn’t spent terribly long in her costume, as Madame Web only showed brief flashforwards of Anya, Sydney Sweeney’s Julia Cornwall, Celeste O’Connor’s Mattie Franklin and Dakota Johnson’s Cassandra Webb suited up. However, it was long enough that Merced felt uncomfortable during the shoot. The good news for her is that given what a critical and commercial disappointment Madame Web was, the chances of Merced reprising Anya are practically zero.
That’s not to say that suiting up as Hawkgirl was easy during Superman’s principal photography, especially since she was having to wear her costume for much longer. In this case though, the Alien: Romulus star took comfort in the fact that others were in the same boat as her, saying:
We all were going through it together. We'd use fans on each other to make sure we weren't hot on the summer days where we'd be in harnesses in the middle of in Cleveland.
You have to support each other, right? That said, Isabela Merced did spend much more time in harnesses compared to her co-stars, with the possible exception of David Corenswet. Still, she didn’t mind that aspect of playing Hawkgirl. She explained:
Every scene I'm flying, pretty much. But it's cool because I'm an adrenaline seeker. I like being dropped from really high heights. It's actually one of my favorite things.
Hawkgirl looks like she’ll be on a team with Guy Gardner, Mister Terrific and Metamorpho in Superman, but beyond that, we have no idea how the specifically fit into the story. Still, assuming Superman proves successful, I’d like to think this is just the start of Merced’s tenure as the winged superhero. After all, Fillion is already set to reprise Guy in Lanterns, which premieres on HBO in early 2026, so she could also easily pop up in another corner of the DCU.
For now, Superman will be released in theaters July 11 on the 2025 movies schedule. Isabela Merced can also be seen playing Dina in The Last of Us Season 2, which premieres April 13 on HBO.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
