Does Hawkman Die in Black Adam? Does He Reincarnate?

Black Adam features a lot of violence and destruction. This is completely reasonable when we take into account the nature of the titular character; a villain turned anti-hero, Black Adam. We’ve seen plenty of deaths in the movie. Some were expected, and some were shocking. What fans seem to wonder the most is whether Carter Hall, aka Hawkman, lived to see another day. Hawkman is extremely powerful, and the movie did a good job depicting his powers. This is why we’re going to use this opportunity to explain to you does Hawkman die in Black Adam and does he use his reincarnation powers.

Hawkman did not die in Black Adam, nor did he reincarnate since there was no need for it. Doctor Fate foresaw that Hawkman would die in a battle against Sabbac, so he conjured up a barrier to prevent Justice Society from joining the fight. He held his ground in a fight against Sabbac, but in the end, his powers proved to be inferior as Sabbac impaled him. Hawkman would probably die in a fight, so Doctor Fate sacrificed himself to save his friend. Still, many fans noticed that the sacrifice was, in fact, in vain since Hawkman can repeatedly reincarnate while keeping his memories.

Now that we’ve covered that Hawkman did not die in Black Adam, it’s time to explain in more detail why Doctor Fate’s decision to sacrifice himself to save his life makes no sense. If you’re interested in our take on the events, stay with us and keep reading!

Battle of Kahndaq & how Hawkman avoided death in Black Adam

Kent Nelson, aka Doctor Fate, is an extremely powerful character from the DC comics, so fans were overjoyed when he appeared in the Black Adam movie portrayed by none other than Pierce Brosnan. Throughout the movie, we know that Doctor Fate has seen Hawkman’s death, and he intends to stop it, although we’re not sure why.

During the Battle of Kahndaq, Doctor Fate is aware that Hawkman will most likely die, so he decides to create the impenetrable barrier behind which he traps the Hawkman, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone. This is to prevent the Hawkman from dying in a fight against Sabbac, as he aims to take down the demon alone. Doctor Fate explains that he doesn’t want to lose more friends, but the cost of saving him is the fact that he can’t seem to see his own future anymore. Hawkman is not really sure what that means until he sees the barrier.

Sabbac proves to be a bit much for Doctor Fate, the two are locked in combat, and Doctor Fate successfully holds his ground. Sabbac eventually overwhelms Doctor Fate with his flames. Before that, Doctor Fate made sure to telepathically communicate with Black Adam to ask him for help. Sabbac’s flames also took enough energy from Doctor Fate that he is no longer able to hold the magic barrier in place. Hawkman, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher can once again join the fight and help out Doctor Fater, but ultimately they are too late.

Just a few scenes after that, Sabbac impales Doctor Fate with his fist. He holds him in the air until flames consume him, leaving nothing behind except for the fabled Helmet of Fate. Sabbac kicks at the helmet.

Sabbac is eventually defeated, and Hawkman lives, but the question that remains is why on earth would Doctor Fate sacrifice himself for someone who has reincarnation powers?

Hawkman has reincarnation powers, but those were not shown in the Black Adam movie

Hawkman is both in the comics and in the movie, the reincarnation of the Egyptian God Khufu, who was the original Hawkman. Most of Hawkman’s powers from the comics were showcased in the movie, like superhuman strength, speed, the ability to fly, and overall his superhuman utilization of the Nth metal. What we haven’t seen, however, are Hawkman’s reincarnation powers.

In the comics, Hawkman was born as Prince Khufu of ancient Egypt. One day he happened upon alien spacecraft that was powered by Nth metal. A strange alien metal with anti-gravity and other magical properties. Prince Khufu, with the help of Black Adam, recovered from the ship a scarab (which later allowed him to fly), a knife, and the Claw of Horus, a gauntlet made out of metal that proved to be an extremely useful weapon. Prince Khufu was eventually killed, along with his love Chay-Ara (Hawkgirl), by the priestess Hath-Set. She murdered both Khufu and Chay-Ara with a dagger made of Nth metal, which strengthened their souls and bound them to the mortal plane.

The metal bound their souls to life in such a way that they are repeatedly reincarnated, fated to find themselves again and fall in love but also to remember their identities and to be killed by Hath-Set over and over again.

The Black Adam movie makes no mention of this, however. Even though we see Hawkman repeatedly using Nth metal and showcasing his amazing abilities, the movie makes no mention of the fact that Carter Hall lived many lives before this one and that he is able to reincarnate.
This is probably because, then, Doctor Fate’s sacrifice would make no sense. Hawkman could easily be the one who dies in a fight against Sabbac as he would be able to return easily, reincarnating once again. Besides, we wouldn’t be able to see the touching moment when Doctor Fate sacrifices himself, and the Justice Society wouldn’t be further empowered by this tragedy.

So no, even though it would make perfect sense for Hawkman to die in Black Adam, he doesn’t die. He lives to fight again. Instead of Hawkman, it’s Doctor Fate that takes the killing blow from Sabbac, leaving nothing but his helmet behind. With the Helmet of Fate intact, someone else is probably going to take the mantle of Doctor Fate, and this is probably not the last of him that we’ve seen when it comes to DCU.