DC/WB developing a Hawkman movie?

I know, I know, I'm on hiatus, but I saw this on twitter and felt obliged to post it. Flying around the net* this morning are rumours of a Hawkman movie! That means that hopefully Carter Hall, with his obscenely large wings and waxed pepperoni-nippled chest, will be coming to a cinema near you in 2013. Warner Bros, presumably banking on Green Lantern being a success, are shopping for writers as we speak. For the uninitiated, here is their pitch;


"Part INDIANA JONES/DA VINCI CODE, part GHOST tentpole about the fictional superhero that appears in D.C. Comic books. He used archaic weaponry and large, artificial wings attached to a harness made of the Nth metal that allows flight. Most incarnations of Hawkman work closely with a partner/romantic interest named Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman in his fight against supervillains. Based on the DC comic."


First thing's first; Hawkman looks ridiculous. Look at the image from Smallville below. Look at it very carefully and decide if you'd pay eight quid to sit through that for two hours, probably in 3D. There are other more deserving DC heroes to adapt, such as the Flash and Wonder Woman. Household names, that need their films before (let's face it) the superhero blockbuster bubble inevitably bursts. There are other reasons not to adapt Hawkman; his convoluted history for one. I mean, I consider myself very well-versed in comic lore, and even I couldn't tell you what "Nth Metal" is. As well as his origins being tied to ancient Egypt, he is also linked with the alien race known as Thanagarians for no real reason I can comprehend, despite spending the better part of an hour on Wikipedia. I'm sincerely hoping they leave that bit out.



But Smallville did an excellent job with the character, delicately balancing his past lives and tragic storyline very well with his hardass-mace-man persona. The project has potential; a pissed-off, tooled-up Indiana Jones flying around Nazi-bashing sounds like an appealing prospect, and if done straight-laced could be a real feather in DC's cap*. But what finally convinced me was a youtube clip from someone in the CBM comments section, from a film entitled Legion that I've never seen before.





With the mace, and the wings... stick a helmet on him and you get some idea of what to expect. As long as it sticks to a period setting I'm all for this, but not at the expense of a decent Wonder Woman movie. This is all speculation anyway; if Green Lantern flops, the Hawkman movie will sadly never get to spread its wings*.


*Puns fully intended. I regret nothing.