Aldis Hodge Compares DC’s Hawkman To Prime Video’s Cross

Aldis Hodge may have traded in Hawkman’s wings for a badge, but the actor revealed that his character in Cross is a lot more similar to the superhero than most would think.

Hodge plays the titular character, Alex Cross, in the Prime Video series. In an interview with ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan, the actor explains how the homicide detective and forensic psychologist is a superhero in his own way. While Hawkman battles supervillains in the DC Universe and Cross operates in a more grounded setting, Washington DC, he believes that both protagonists are striving for the same goal. They are fighting villains and the people who try to oppress them.

Hodge also mentioned that growing up, he was a huge comic book fan. He added that he thinks comic books and superheroes symbolize the fight against repression. They fight the many injustices in the world and try to fight for the rights of others, which is exactly what Cross does on a daily basis.

I grew up on graphic novels and comics. I love anime. I’m addicted to anime.

Superheroes and comics were invented as symbolism for dealing with oppression in ways you couldn’t directly. You made yourself super. You created ideology around opposing what suppresses you.

I think Alex Cross embodies that. Where I start with every character is their honesty. What do they want? Who are they? Where are they at? What are they going through? What are their desires? Their fears? Their vulnerabilities? Their strengths? That never changes. Every character’s journey is different, but I need to understand that honesty in order to portray them.

Cross is a crime thriller that was inspired by James Patterson’s book series, Alex Cross. The show follows the character as he tracks down serial killers, using his training to get inside the minds of the criminals he’s trying to track down. It also focuses on his personal life and his fight to keep his family safe from the dangers that come with his career and past.

The Cross series cast also features a massive lineup alongside Hodge. The cast consists of Isaiah Mustafa (Detective John Sampson), Juanita Jennings (Regina Cross), Alona Tal (Kayla Craig), Samantha Walkes (Elle Monteiro), Caleb Elijah (Damon Cross), Melody Hurd (Janelle Cross), Jennifer Wigmore (Chief April Anderson), Jeanine Mason (Rebecca), Wes Chatham (Donnie), Johnny Ray Gill (Bobby Trey), and Matthew Lillard (Lance Durand).

Cross Season 2 Left Aldis Hodge In Tears Multiple Times

ScreenRant: Congratulations on Cross season 2. I just have to tell you, it is phenomenal, I had to stop and cry a few times.

Aldis Hodge: Let me ask: which episode was the first time you had to stop and cry?

ScreenRant: Episode 3.

Aldis Hodge: All right. Yeah, yeah. What about the next one? I’m seeing if you stopped at the same time, because I cried once too.

ScreenRant: And then the last episode, I was sobbing through the whole thing.

Aldis Hodge: It was the last episode for me too.

ScreenRant: Was that when you were reading it or when you were filming?

Aldis Hodge: No, when I watched it. I watched them all back to back, and obviously there’s a sort of distended bias just because we were there. I understand what’s going on, so I’m watching for technical reasons — lighting, this, that, and the other. But throughout the course of it, I kind of got wrapped up in that particular story. And then the way it came to its closure, man, it got me. I was right there too, but it still got me. I was like, how am I surprised by this? I knew this was happening, but it’s just so well done. And you kind of realize, oh, we did go on this huge emotional journey through these eight episodes. Obviously, speaking to what’s going on these days, you understand the necessity for humane decency through the lens of what this season is. So yeah, it hit me.

ScreenRant: Yeah, and obviously there’s a lot going on in our country right now that feels like parallels — not necessarily new things, but things that are becoming entirely impossible to ignore. So I’m curious what you hope the conversation will be after people watch.

Aldis Hodge: We always try to handle the context of our shows and subject matter with the utmost respect. We hope never to be performative, voyeuristic, or even capitalist when it comes to the integrity of these stories. I hope this season can be an additive asset to the necessary conversation that’s going on. I hope we help push people toward empathy and decency. I hope we help push a couple minds to reconsider their positions — why they need to be active, why they need to be engaged and fight. There’s no side, no amount of money, no political position that justifies inhumanity in how you treat people. So I hope folks learn. We’ve been saying wake up for a minute, but now is definitely the time. Wake up, get active, do something about it.

ScreenRant: You filmed back to back, so you didn’t have the in-between of “here’s what people thought.” You didn’t have that outside noise. What was that like?

Aldis Hodge: It was very unique. First time it’s ever happened in my 36 years in this business. For me, it gave us confidence that we were doing the jobs we needed to do, and doing them well enough that our studio partners took that leap of faith. There was a freedom to it because we didn’t have a barometer. No standard to compare ourselves to. No analytics telling us what people liked or didn’t like. We were still walking in the freedom we had with season one. We shot season 1 in 2023. Season 2 started development in 2023 and pushed into 2024. Then we shot in 2024. Now the fanfare and support people have shown, wanting the show to come back, has been amazing. I’ve only seen it grow. I’m excited about February 11, just to see how it goes.

Cross season 2 releases new episodes every Wednesday on Prime Video.