DC Universe TV Series STARGIRL Announced at SDCC 2018

DC Universe is reaching for the stars.

Deadline is reporting that the upcoming streaming service DC Universe is developing a Stargirl TV series, based on the young DC Comics superhero.  The series, debuting in 2019, will be thirteen episodes and will be written and executive produced by Geoff Johns, who co-created the character and based her on his deceased sister Courtney.

According to the article, the new series, will feature "high school student (Courtney) Whitmore, (who) bands together with the Justice Society of America to fight villains, past and present."

"Obviously, Stargirl was the first character I created for DC," said Johns.  "Most important, Courtney Whitmore was inspired by my sister who passed away.  To have an opportunity to tell a story celebrating this superhero was literally the first thing I wanted to do because it is so personal to me.  Also, a character that speaks to being young, to a legacy and to pushing forward seems so important to me nowadays."

The series is the sixth DC Comics adaptation in development for DC Universe, after the animated series Harley Quinn and Young Justice: Outsiders, and the live-action series Titans, Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing.

Announced during a spotlight panel on Johns during San Diego Comic-Con 2018, the series will be produced by WBTV, Johns’ Mad Ghost Productions and Berlanti Productions.

Created in 1999 by Geoff Johns and Lee Moder, Stargirl first appeared in DCU Heroes Secret Files #1 as Courtney Whitmore, the stepdaughter of Pat Dugan, who once worked with the original Star-Spangled Kid, Sylvester Pemberton, as his crimefighting partner Stripesy.  Courtney found the original Star-Spangled Kid's gear in her stepfather's belongings and donned the costume to annoy Dugan, resenting his marrying her mother and moving the family from Los Angeles to Blue Valley, Nebraska.  Dugan, a skilled mechanic, designed and built S.T.R.I.P.E., a robotic suit that he used to accompany and protect her.

Courtney later joined the Justice Society of America, and after being given Starman Jack Knight's cosmic staff, she changed her identity to Stargirl.  She soon discovered her biological father (Sam Kurtis) working as a common thug for an incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang.  They later confronted one another during one of the Royal Flush Gang's robberies.  Courtney was later approached by the Shade, who informed her that her biological father was dead.  This tragedy, and her experience of the relationship between Liberty Belle and Jesse Quick, prompted her to re-evaluate her family life.  She realized that she couldn't hate her biological father for his failings as a father and as a man, and also learned to accept Pat Dugan as her only real father figure.

In the current New 52 continuity, Stargirl joined the new Justice League of America, chosen by Amanda Waller as the public face of the JLA's PR campaign.  After the disbandment of the JLA following the Forever Evil crossover event, Stargirl joined Justice League United.

The character has previously appeared in live-action, played by Britt Irvin in several episodes of the WB/CW series Smallville, and Sarah Grey in the CW series Legends of Tomorrow.  The character has also appeared on the animated series Justice League Unlimited (voiced by Giselle Loren), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Hope Levy), and Justice League Action (voiced by Natalie Lander).