DCs Stargirl premiered on 18 May 2020 and is another offering in the Arrowverse.
Courtney Whitmore aka Stargirl (Brec Bassinger) first made an appearance in the fifth instalment of Crisis on Infinite Earths where we learn that she is from the rebooted Earth 2. Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman and The Legends of Tomorrow now all reside on Earth Prime but this shouldn’t prevent any future crossovers as Supergirl was originally from Earth-38 before the rebirth of the multiverse.
The series premiere kicks off with an action-packed 10-year flashback where we witness the death and destruction of the Justice Society of America in a battle with the Injustice Society. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that’s such a cockamamy name.
Anyway, A dying Starman gives the Cosmic Staff to his sidekick Pat Dugan aka Stripesy (played by Luke Wilson) for safekeeping, telling him to make sure the JSA continues but he’s not to wield the staff himself. It must be someone brave, and honourable. What does that say about Stripesy? It’s made pretty clear that Stripesy is the wait in the car kind of sidekick but had he listened he wouldn’t have been there to rescue Starman and the Cosmic Staff.
Whilst this fight is happening, a little girl is waiting at home for her dad and we are left wondering which one of the JSA members is her dad.
Flash forward to the present and the little girl Courtney is packing. Her mum has married Pat Dugan and they are moving to Nebraska.
We muddle through Courtney’s first day at school with all the teen angst that it brings and as she sits at the losers table at lunch I had to grit my teeth and power through it. I’ve been over teen drama for some time now which is why it’s taking me so long to get through Marvel’s Runaways. I know superheroes have families and what not and family life comes with its own dramas but I just don’t want to sit through schoolyard mean girl and jocks bs. Eyeing the remote, I continue to watch, remembering the four-episode rule.
Stargirl’s Origin story
Courtney is digging around in the basement when she discovers a picture of a group of people seated around a table with the JSA symbol. She thinks she recognises one of the faces and pulls out her locket to compare the face to a picture of her dad. A large box starts to glow. She opens the box and discovers Starman’s Cosmic Staff. She picks up the staff and it glows some more.
This is where Stargirl’s story really begins as she takes the staff out to play. Unable to control the staff yet, Courtney manages to blow up the car belonging to the mean guy she’d met in the school cafeteria. Turn’s out mean guys dad is Brainwave, a member of the Injustice Society, queue drama.
Watching the first two episodes together, we establish that members of the Injustice Society are still alive and Courtney is on their radar. Whether Starman is Courtney’s father or not was made confusing by Pat’s insisting that he wasn’t and then agreeing that he was. Regardless of that, Courtney has made it her mission to take down the bad guys and has decreed that Pat and his huge robot will be her sidekick. She even renamed him Stripe as Stripesy really was a lame name.
Tune in again?
The special effects were good and the storytelling was well-paced for an origin story. I’m going to watch the next two episodes in the hope that something jumps out and grabs my attention, giving me a reason to continue to watch. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll be okay because as a fan who’s been spoiled with superhero TV shows and films over the last several years, I think it will do me some good to be more selective in what I watch. Burnout is a thing, people.
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