Stargirl is coming to DC Universe, and her show already has the potential to introduce some major characters from DC Comics lore. Stargirl stars Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl in the era of the Justice Society of America, but not in the way DC fans might expect. When the series opens, the JSA has been killed, and young heroes like the teenage Stargirl will have to step up. Does this open the door for veteran heroes like the first Flash and the first Green Lantern to appear?
Geoff Johns, executive producer and writer for Stargirl, weighed in on whether the Jay Garrick and Alan Scott versions of The Flash and Green Lantern could appear. Speaking with IGN, Johns said this:
[Green Lantern and Flash] are spoken of and they exist in the JSA. There's a picture of them in the first episode, and there's plans in the future for things, but Jay Garrick and Alan Scott, to me, are always the elderly statesmen. They're the big heroes of the JSA and their shadow is very long and they're great characters. They are a part of the original JSA and their legacies will be felt throughout the show. I don't want to spoil too much about it, but I can leave it at that.
While viewers shouldn't count on Jay Garrick and Alan Scott turning up in the flesh any time soon on Stargirl (or at all, depending on whether the entire original JSA died ahead of Courtney becoming Stargirl), their characters will definitely be honored. Interestingly, the Arrow-verse's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover that brought the various DC TV productions (and even the DCEU thanks to an unexpected cameo) together into a much smaller multiverse revealed Stargirl is set on Earth-2.
John Wesley Shipp has played Jay Garrick on The Flash, which is now the Arrow-verse's most senior ongoing series. Stargirl could conceivably introduce an Earth-2 Garrick played by Shipp, which would likely be a draw for Arrow-verse fans to check out the DC Universe series. The Arrow-verse has mostly shied away from canonically introducing a Green Lantern, aside from the tease at the end of the Arrow series finale, so there's no established Earth-1 Alan Scott actor to potentially reprise a Green Lantern role for Stargirl.
Whether or not Stargirl pulls some actors from the Arrow-verse to play Earth-2 versions of their characters, Arrow-verse fans may be checking out the new series in droves. New episodes of Stargirl will air on The CW the day after they release on DC Universe, with the series premiere making the show's broadcast network debut on May 18.
With three of the four currently ongoing Arrow-verse series cut short in the 2019-2020 TV season due to the coronavirus, fans may be looking for more superhero fare. The 13 episodes of Stargirl will certainly provide some superhero action, which could be especially welcome with an indefinite hiatus for many TV shows on the horizon.
Stargirl promises to begin telling a story that isn't beholden to the Arrow-verse canon (such as it is, post-Crisis) but still with the potential to tie to the Arrow-verse, which I say could make it very attractive to superhero fans who aren't into the Arrow-verse as well as Arrow-verse fans.
Either way, I can see The CW airing new episodes of Stargirl as potentially beneficial to both DC Universe and The CW itself. We'll just have to wait and see how Stargirl will honor JSA heroes like the first Flash and the first Green Lantern while telling Courtney Whitmore's story. Stargirl premieres on Monday, May 18 for DC Universe subscribers and Tuesday, May 19 on The CW.
