STARGIRL Casts Brec Bassinger as...Stargirl

There's a Stargirl waiting in the sky. 

Deadline has word that the upcoming DC Universe series Stargirl, based on the DC Comics superhero, has cast Brec Bassinger in the lead role of Stargirl/Courtney Whitmore. The series 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.

The official description for Stargirl states Courtney is "smart, athletic and above all else kind. This high school teenager’s seemingly perfect life hits a major speedbump when her mother gets married and her new family moves from Los Angeles, California to Blue Valley, Nebraska.  Struggling to adapt to a new school, make new friends and deal with a new step-family, Courtney discovers her step-father has a secret -- he used to be the sidekick to a superhero.  'Borrowing' the long-lost hero’s cosmic staff, Courtney becomes the unlikely inspiration for an entirely new generation of superheroes."

Stargirl follows High School sophomore Courtney Whitmore, who inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. This new DC Universe series reimagines Stargirl and the very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in a fun, exciting and unpredictable series premiering in 2019, produced by Warner Bros. Television, Mad Ghost Productions and Berlanti Productions.

"There is no other character in comic books more special to me than Stargirl," said Johns, "and after searching far and wide, I can say there is no other actor on the planet that embodies her more than Brec Bassinger. Brec’s warmth, strength, humor and positive energy are core to who Courtney Whitmore is. I’m so grateful she’s signed on for the role."

Bassinger, 19, is best known as Bella Dawson on the Nickelodeon series Bella and the Bulldogs, and has appeared episodes of the TV series The Goldbergs, School of Rock, and The Haunted Hathaways.

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.

Bassinger will be the third actress to portray Stargirl in live-action, after 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).

Stargirl is expected to debut on DC Universe sometime in 2019.