Hawkman and Hawkgirl have landed: 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' offers 1st look

It's a bird. Or, more precisely, two birds.

Friday, the CW provided a first look at the next set of heroes to soon debut in DC Comics's ever-growing and interconnected television universe: Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

The Thanagarian duo will first appear on episodes of the CW's "The Flash" (season premiere: Oct. 6) and "Arrow," (season premiere: Oct. 7) before flying into a more prominent role on yet another CW/DC show. "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" will assemble characters spun out of the Arrow and Flash universe, including the formerly Black and now White Canary (Caity Lotz), the Atom (Brandon Routh), Firestorm (Robbie Amell and Victor Garber) and Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), and will debut later this season.

Hawkgirl/Kendra Saunders (played by Ciara Renee) made a brief appearance in "The Flash's" Season 1 finale, and Hawkman/Carter Hall (Falk Hentschel) will make his CW debut this fall.

So how much actual flying might these two do on a television budget? But given how special effects-heavy "The Flash" was in its first season - in order to depict a hero and villain who have super-speed, and Atom's flight - we might well see Hawkman and Hawkgirl take the skies frequently.

Both Hawk-suits nod to their comic-book origins. Fans of the superhawks will be glad to see that the Thanagarian head gear made the cut in preproduction designs. Renee's helmet looks straight out of Bruce Timm's Justice League cartoon that frequently stared Hawkgirl, while Hentschel's helmet looks a little Wolverine-esque. (Comic-book Wolverine, that is; the Hugh Jackman movies have never had the guts to try the Wolvie suit, although it did get a deleted-scenes treatment in the most recent Wolverine movie).

But credit where credit is due: The fact that we're looking at a live-action Hawkman and Hawkgirl, equipped with a signature mace in hand, shows how far the DC Universe on TV has come.

Four years ago, who thought that the Green Arrow, of all characters, would be the hero that could provide the big-bang moment for DC on TV? Now, DC's TV universe continues to gain elevation.