STARGIRL Casts Henry Thomas as Doctor Mid-Nite

He goes out walkin' after midnight, out in the moonlight...

Entertainment Weekly has word that the upcoming DC Universe series Stargirl, based on the DC Comics superhero, has cast Henry Thomas as Dr. Charles McNider, better known to DC Comics fans as the Golden Age Doctor Mid-Nite!

According to the article, the role will be recurring and is described as "Also known as the introspective surgeon Dr. Charles McNider, Dr. Mid-Nite is a brilliant and forward-thinking medical pioneer, and a founding member of the JSA.  With his trusty owl, he acts as the team’s resident doctor and detective."

Stargirl is centered on Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger), a struggling high-schooler who relocates to Blue Valley, Nebraska when her mom gets married.  After discovering her new stepfather was Starman’s sidekick Stripesy, Courtney uses his old Cosmic Staff to become Stargirl and inspire an unlikely group of young heroes to fight villains of the past.

Thomas, 47, is best known as Elliott in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and recently as Young Hugh Crain in the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House.  His other films include Cloak & Dagger (1984), Fire in the Sky, Legends of the Fall, Suicide Kings, All the Pretty Horses, Gangs of New York, Dear John, and Ouija: Origin of Evil.  His television appearances include episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Better Things, The Mentalist, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace, and Masters of Horror.

Created in 1941 by Charles Reizenstein and Stanley Josephs Aschmeier, Doctor Mid-Nite first appeared in All-American Comics #25 as Dr. Charles McNider, a surgeon, who was called one night to remove a bullet from a witness set to testify against mobsters.  A mobster threw a grenade into the room, killing the witness and blinding McNider, with the injury causing him to believe his career as a surgeon was over.  One evening, as he was recovering, an owl crashed through his window.  Removing the bandages covering his eyes, McNider discovered that he could still see, but only in perfect darkness.  McNider developed a special visor allowing him to see in the light and "blackout bombs" capable of blocking out all light, becoming a costumed crime fighter.  He adopted the owl, naming it Hooty, and it became his "sidekick."

As Doctor Mid-Nite, he later joined the Justice Society of America (JSA) and the All-Star Squadron.  In 1942, McNider enlisted in the U.S. Medical Corps as a physician during World War II, rising to the rank of Captain.  Ten years after his debut, McNider briefly assumed the role of Starman after the JSA disbanded when Ted Knight, the original Starman, suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of his participation in the development of the atomic bomb.

In 1953, McNider suffered a devastating event when the girl he loved, Myra Mason, was murdered by the Shadower, a foe who had learned Doctor Mid-Nite's secret identity.  McNider apparently had no children, but at one point McNider rescued a pregnant woman from an attack in Sogndal, Norway, and delivered her baby, Pieter Cross, who later became the third Doctor Mid-Nite.

McNider rejoined his comrades in the Justice Society of America, when the cosmic entity known as the Anti-Monitor threatened to destroy the Multiverse during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event.  Immediately following the Crisis, the Justice Society embarked upon an adventure that cast them out of this reality, placing them into a Limbo dimension, where they found themselves fighting the Gods of Nordic legend – seemingly for all time.  A few years later, however, the super-being known as Waverider brought the JSA back to Earth and they came out of retirement once again to fight their old adversary, the Ultra-Humanite.

Following that battle, Doctor Mid-Nite shared in one final adventure with his lifelong brothers-in-arms.  The villain known as Extant had sought to remake the entire universe and began manipulating multiple time streams to suit his own ends.  The JSA, as well as dozens of other heroes, banded together to stop him.  Doctor Mid-Nite, the original Atom, and the futuristic android known as Hourman lost their lives during an event that has come to be known as Zero Hour.

Thomas will be the second actor to portray Doctor Mid-Nite in live-action, after Kwesi Ameyaw in the CW series Legends of Tomorrow.  The character has also appeared in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Corey Burton) and Justice League Unlimited.

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