DC’s Stargirl has been renewed for a second season, reports Deadline. But there’s a catch: it’s jumping homes from Warner Bros. DC Universe streaming service to The CW, where it’ll join the rest of that network’s DC adaptations.
The series is about high school student Courtney Whitmore (played by Brec Bassinger), who picks up the mantle of Stargirl after discovering that her stepfather, Sylvester Pemberton (Joel McHale) was once the sidekick to a superhero, Starman. When she discovers his powerful cosmic staff, she becomes a superhero herself, and brings together her own team of heroes.
Stargirl was initially part of a live-action slate of shows for Warner Bros.’ DC Universe, which launched in 2017, along with Titans, Swamp Thing, and Doom Patrol.
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While Titans got off to a solid start on the platform (it was renewed for a third season back in November), the rest have had some more trouble. Swamp Thing was abruptly canceled in June 2019, and Doom Patrol was renewed for a second season—one that it would share with Warner Bros. newest streaming service, HBO Max. (The latest season began streaming on June 25th.) Stargirl has had its own share of issues: It was initially slated to be released in January 2020, but that was pushed back to earlier this summer, where it was released both on DC Universe and The CW.
With its renewal, Deadline notes that the show’s second season won’t be offered on DC Universe at all—it’ll premiere only on The CW, and on the network’s digital platforms the day after. The move certainly brings into question the viability of DC Universe, given that its live-action originals are slipping off the platform, and the competition from HBO Max. Deadline notes that DC Universe is still around, but that it seems to be shifting focus, “focusing on its core business of DC comic book and news content for fans.”
This isn’t the first time that The CW has captured such a show—it did something similar with Supergirl, which it picked up from CBS, and subsequently tied it in with its Arrowverse franchise. Stargirl is already connected to that overarching superhero network: the show’s characters made an appearance in last year’s Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event.
On the CW, Stargirl joins a robust group of DC shows: while the network’s flagship series Arrow has since ended, it’ll be accompanied by The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Batwoman, and Superman & Lois.
