Hawkworld is a pivotally important story in Hawkman's notoriously confusing continuity. Following the 12-issue miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, a large number of DC's major characters were given rebooted origins. The three-issue miniseries Hawkworld in 1989 was originally intended to serve this purpose for Hawkman, but it was so popular that DC decided to retroactively make it set in the present day, instead of in the past. It was directly continued in the ongoing series Hawkworld. This created a problem, however, as Katar Hol was now coming to Earth for the first time, but stories had been referencing his past involvement with the Justice League for three years between the two volumes. It was explained that the Hawkman who served with the early Justice League was actually a separate character, and we all agreed never to speak of this again.

The name "Hawkworld" can also apply to Hawkman's home planet of Thanagar.