How to tell the difference between Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) and Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol).

Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl) and Shayera Hol (Hawkwoman)

   The differences between Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) and Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol)! Some fans appear to be confused by which is which so here are the basics. Side note: The Superman movie version has absolutely nothing to do with either of them. Completely unrelated Gunn version. So...sorry DCU fans. That's a whole unrelated matter entirely. It could have been, but the movies decided to go with a version completely new and unrelated to anything in the comics.

 

Completely unrelated Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl)

First, Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders)
Ethnicity/Looks: Hispanic, short brown hair
Uniform: green, gold, white
Wings: Metallic, Organic
Weapons, Mace, Sword, Spear
Romantic Interest: None
Relation to Carter: No romantic interest, brother-sister relationship, reincarnation cycle ended
Team: Justice Society

Art by Amancay Nahuelpan

   Kendra has never had long hair, always a short cut. That's why it was strange that the Superman movie starred Kendra Saunders as Hawkgirl. Isabela Merced had long hair in the movie, and THEN cut her hair Kendra-style after they took the movie. Whatever...

   Kendra is currently not romantically involved with anyone. I thought they were going with the Martian Manhunter relationship, but it kind of just disappeared and all of the DC writers acted like it never happened. Currently, Kendra is in the Justice Society with Hawkman (Carter Hall) but there is nothing between the two besides a mutal respect and platonic partnership. Thank gawd for that. Hopefully we're past the days of making Hawkman a creepy stalker and we can have a normal friendship between the two. During the badly-written Hawkgirl series in 2023-24, I thought they were actually going to make Hawkgirl bisexual or lesbian, but after a whole bunch of innuendoes, that didn't happen either.

   So, to make sure we got it, Kendra is always the one with short hair, has a gold/yellow and green uniform, and her wings (which look metallic in some way) come out of her back.

Next, Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol)
Ethnicity/Looks: Thanagarian, long red hair
Uniform: blue, gold, red
Wings: Forms from Nth metal harness
Weapons, Mace, spear
Partner: Carter Hall (reunited in Hawkman Vol. V #19), reincarnation cycle ended in Hawkman Vol. V #26)
Team: None at the moment, Leader of Thanagar

Art by Fernando Pasarin

   Shayera is currently with Carter Hall. Or so we thought. After the Hawkman series by Robert Venditti and a few random anthology stories and incomplete teaser, Shayera and Carter were a solid couple. But then back in February. Shayera runs into GL John Stewart. It was strongly implied that something had happened in the past between these two, but nothing was even clearly revealed or explained. John was very visibly uncomfortable around her. She took off into space after a couple of issues in the Green Lantern Corps series and we haven't seen anything since. As far as we know, Shayera and Carter are still together, but the current writers such as Jeff Lemire and Jeremy Adams are doing a good job of completely ignoring it for now.

   Again, Shayera always has red hair (except for a extremely brief period during the New 52), her uniform is blue, gold and red, and her wings come out of her harness, not her back, and they look like natural Hawk wings. 

Kendra and Shayera came from Shiera Saunders. When Shiera died, the Totality power source divided her into two beings for reasons. You can read about how the connection between Kendra and Shayera was cut, and they were made into their own person in Justice League No. 14-16 (201). 

   For the fans that saw the movie, it can get confusing with a version of Hawkgirl that no one has ever seen before in the comics. We really don't know anything about her but she appears to be a character that James Gunn just took bits and pieces of all the different versions and created a new one. Not confusing to the casual fan at all.

For a complete guide of their current history, you can check it out here: 

The Story of Shayera Hol/Hawkwoman and Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl