In July, Geoff Johns announced that DC Universe would be the home of a live-action ‘Stargirl’ series based on a character he created for DC Comics. Teenager Courtney Whitmore discovered that her mother’s new husband, Pat Dugan, used to be a superhero (well… actually a sidekick) and she decided to use some of the equipment he and his mentor the Star-Spangled Kid used to embark on a crime-fighting career of her own. Eventually, she was also given Starman’s cosmic rod and she took the name Stargirl in honor of both Starman and the Star-Spangled Kid.
Here is how the show is described:
Stargirl follows high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore who inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. The series reimagines Stargirl and the very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in a fun, exciting and unpredictable series.
Then we learned that the first young hero that would join Courtney in her rebuilt Justice Society would be Yolanda Montez, a legacy character introduced in 1985 as an updated successor to Ted Grant, a.k.a. Wildcat.
R.J. Ramirez played a version of Ted Grant on ‘Arrow’, but it is believed that the DC Universe shows will not be connected with those on The CW. After all, there had already been a Stargirl played by Sarah Grey on ‘Legends of Tomorrow’.
But now that the ball is rolling, what are some other heroes who could join Courtney’s crusade? Here are a few suggestions in alphabetical order.
Atom-Smasher/Albert Rothstein
Atom-Smasher, played by Adam Copeland, appeared as a villain on ‘The Flash’, but only once.
In the comics, Albert Rothstein was the grandson of a minor villain called Cyclotron, which resulted in his being born with the ability to control his size and density. As a baby, he was looked after by Al Pratt, the Golden Age Atom, who was named Albert’s godfather.
He originally operated as Nuklon, a member of Infinity Inc.– a group made up of other children and spiritual heirs of the Golden Age Justice Society of America. He later adopted the Atom-Smasher identity as a closer connection to Pratt.
What makes him an interesting choice is that at one point, Courtney had a crush on him, so there is a connection to the show’s star right there. In an earlier storyline, his male teammate Obsidian also revealed he was in love with him, so that adds more drama. And Atom Smasher actually at one point “broke bad,” allying himself with mass murder Black Adam. Though Black Adam is probably off-limits, it would still be interesting to see a hero like Albert go bad somehow.
Brainwave Jr./Henry King Jr.
Brainwave Jr. was also a founder of Infinity Inc., but 
unlike his teammates, he was the son of a villain, the first Brainwave. Sadly, after Infinity Inc. disbanded, the first Brainwave died and transferred his powers to his son, but they were too much for him to handle and he went insane.
Prior to that, though, he was an upstanding hero and was romantically involved with Jade. Though Brainwave Jr. had a normal appearance, his father, the first Brainwave had a deformed appearance, with a small frame and a huge, oversized head. But, he used his mental powers to make others see him in a form that looked more like his son’s, a muscular man with red hair. Although Henry King Jr. didn’t do this, it might be interesting if the show depicted him that way. What if the hottest hunk at high school was just an illusion and the person under that disguise had a freakish appearance? High schoolers are extremely self-conscious, after all.
Crimson Avenger/Jill Carlyle/Lee Travis
Jill Carlyle probably couldn’t be depicted as a high school student, but that depends on how faithful the creators are to the comics. She is a Spirit of Vengeance armed with two mystical Colt pistols and is cursed with an ever-bleeding bullet wound on her chest. She is teleported to a victim’s burial place where she gains the memories and skills of the deceased in order to hunt down their murderers.
She can also teleport and phase among other supernatural powers. Her motif is bleak but it would fit right into this type of show. She might not work as a regular cast member, but she’d make a great one-off or recurring character.
Fans refer to this Crimson Avenger as Jill Carlyle because that was the name on the tombstone of the first victim that she avenged, but later a similar character was shown in the ‘Earth-2’ comic book identified as Lee Travis, which was the name of the original Golden Age Crimson Avenger.
Cyclone/Maxine Hunkel
Maxine Hunkel is the granddaughter of Ma Hunkel, the Golden Age Red Tornado, a non-power housewife who dressed up in a homemade costume that included pajamas and a cooking pot as a helmet in order to battle crime in her neighborhood and was granted honorary membership in the Justice Society.
As a child, Maxine was kidnapped by mad scientist T.O. Morrow, creator of the Bronze Age Red Tornado, an android with the power to generate intense wind. As a result of her exposure to Morrow’s creations, she eventually gained similar powers and joined the Justice Society as Cyclone.
She is a bubbly chatterbox and is obsessed with ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘Wicked’ and would probably fit right in as a classmate of Courtney’s.
Doctor Fate/Various
There have been several Doctors Fate, so ‘Stargirl’ could take its pick as to which to use. A version of the original appeared on ‘Smallville’ and relatively speaking, looked pretty impressive.
At one point, Hector Hall, the son of the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl adopted the identity. Most recently, a new Egyptian-American character named Khalid Nassour was introduced and was revealed to be the grandnephew of the original Doctor Fate, Kent Nelson. Before him, another Egyptian character, Khalid Ben-Hassin was featured in the ‘Earth-2’ comic.
In each case, Doctor Fate is one of the DC Universe’s most powerful magic-users. Unfortunately, when using the power of the Helmet of Nabu, the wearer slowly becomes overcome by the consciousness of an ancient sorcerer.
Doctor Midnight/Beth Chapel
The original Dr. Mid-Nite was Charles McNider, a surgeon whose eyes were damaged allowing him to only see in the dark. Chapel used the same formula when she was blinded by an explosion and adopted the identity of Doctor Midnight in 1985 around the same time as Yolanda Montez became Wildcat.
Her tenure as a superhero was short-lived, as she and Wildcat were killed in action by the villain Eclipso, but on ‘Stargirl’, Doctor Midnight could be an interesting addition, thanks in part to her skills as a doctor. If she were a high school student, she could be someone who is working toward becoming a doctor once she finishes college.
She is also unique because she comes from a very religious family, with a pastor father and choir director mother. In fact, her costume was sewn by her mother using a choir robe. It would be interesting to see a young character with a strong Christian foundation.
Hourman/Rick Tyler
Rick Tyler is the son of the original Hourman, Rex Tyler. Both gained their powers from the drug Miraclo and both became addicts. A similar storyline was used with Superboy on ‘Young Justice’ but it may still be cool to see if the creators of ‘Stargirl’ can tell a grounded realistic story about addiction using a young hero addicted to the source of his powers.
Both Hourmen could gain super strength for an hour after ingesting Miraclo pills. Rick Tyler was romantically involved with Beth Chapel at one point, so pairing a drug addict with an aspiring medical professional could be an intriguing storyline.
A version of Rex Tyler, played by Patrick J. Adams appeared on ‘Legends of Tomorrow’.
Jade/Jennie-Lynn Hayden
Jade is the daughter of the Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott and the sometimes-villain Thorn, Rose Canton. As such, she inherited powers similar to Green Lantern’s, but unlike him, she doesn’t need a Power Ring to fly, project emerald energy and create constructs. Her twin brother, Todd Rice is Obsidian. Both were separated at birth from their true parents and each other, only to be reunited as teens.
In earlier comics, Jennie-Lynn could adopt a normal Caucasian appearance, but she is best known for having green skin and hair. On TV, she would most likely not have those features, at least not full time.
The creators of the Arrowverse have said that Green Lantern will never appear on their shows, so this could be as close as fans get to seeing a GL in live action on television.
Jakeem Thunder and Thunderbolt
Johnny Thunder was something of a bumbling goof who hung out with the Justice Society. Despite his clumsy nature, his bacon was usually saved by his “genie” Thunderbolt, who Johnny summons when he says “Say you” which sounds close enough to the magical incantation “Cei-U.” In more recent comics, Johnny was depicted as suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and his Thunderbolt was believed to be a delusion.
Jakeem Thunder inherited the Thunderbolt which resides in a ballpoint pen until Jakeem needs him. Jakeem is depicted as a little younger than Courtney and it could be fun having a younger brother type hanging around. Because Thunderbolt doesn’t appear until he is needed, his graphics wouldn’t have to be used very often, keeping him affordable for the series.
Obsidian/Todd Rice
Unlike his well-adjusted sister, Obsidian is a dark and tortured soul who was abused by his adopted father. It didn’t help that his biological mother, Rose Canton had a mental illness, which he inherited. This caused him to become evil at times, but with Atom Smasher and Brainwave, that may be enough good guys going bad.
Also unlike Jade, Obsidian’s ability to turn into and manipulate darkness seems like the opposite of Green Lantern’s.
Todd is gay and at one point was in love with Albert Rothstein. This is definitely an element that would fit into a series about teens.
Lance Henriksen portrayed an adult version of Obsidian on ‘Legends of Tomorrow’.
Power Girl/Karen Starr/Kara-Zor-L
Power Girl was originally the Earth-2 version of Supergirl. She was noticeably older than the Earth-1 and is also more aggressive, as the owner of her own technology company. There are a couple of ways that ‘Stargirl’ could integrate Power Girl. She could be de-aged to a teenager who happens to be good with computers. Or she could enter as an adult benefactor.
Unlike a lot of characters who have parallel universe duplicates, Power Girl and Supergirl have always been depicted quite differently and are generally seen as two separate characters.
Whether it’s good or bad, Power Girl is infamous for having the most… *ahem* womanly figure in comics.
What characters would you like to see on ‘Stargirl’?
