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Merced is Hawkgirl and Gathegi is Mister Terrific
Superman: Legacy writer-director and co-head of DC Studios James Gunn expands the new DC universe with three new actors joining the cast: Nathan Fillion (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”) Play Guy Gardner, one of the characters known as the Green Lantern; Isabela Merced (“Dora and the Lost City of Gold”) will play Hawkgirl; and Edi Gathegi (“X-Men: First Class”) will play Mister Terrific.
Gunn cast David Corenswet (“Hollywood”) as the eponymous “Man of Steel” two weeks ago, along with “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane.
At a press presentation of the new DC Studios film in January, producer and DC co-head Peter Safran said the film will “focus on Superman, who balances his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing.” He is the embodiment of truth , Justice and the American Way. It is kindness in a world that thinks kindness is old-fashioned.”
Fillion has appeared frequently in Gunn’s films, beginning with the filmmaker’s 2006 horror comedy Slither. His character, Gardner, will be just one of several people in the new DC Universe to wear the Emerald Ring, granting its bearer the powers of the Green Lantern Awards: “Lanterns,” a streaming series for Max, will (first) follow on-screen Hal Jordan portrayed by Ryan Reynold in the ill-fated 2011’s “Green Lantern” and John Stewart (a former Marine who was one of the first black superheroes in DC was).
Merced first rose to fame as a child actress on Nickelodeon’s 100 Things To Do Before High School. She also appeared in 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight and 2018’s Sicario: Day of the Soldado. As Hawkgirl – masked, winged and fond of medieval weapons like swords and maces – Merced will embody one of DC’s oldest superheroes, first appearing in 1940. (Aldis Hodge played Hawkgirl’s counterpart, Hawkman, in the character’s live-action feature debut in 2022’s Black Adam.)
In addition to playing the hapless Darwin in X-Men: First Class, Gathegi was most recently a featured character in the third season of For All Mankind on Apple TV+. He will play Michael Holt, a genius inventor who acts as Mister Terrific with the multifunctional mechanical “T-Balls” he created.
The actors’ contracts come in less than 48 hours before the SAG-AFTRA contract expires (after an extension) and the looming prospect of an actors’ strike becomes a reality.
There’s more to come.