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Stargirl will feature much more of Joel McHale's Starman as the series heads into Season 3
One of the Golden Age heroes of Stargirl is about to get quite a bit more screentime. During a recent appearance on The Ellen Show, Stargirl guest star Joel McHale confirmed to guest host Arsenio Hall that his character Sylvester Pemberton, aka Starman, will be a series regular when the show's third season launches next fall.
"In the first episode of the first season, my character dies," McHale said, "but now I'm back, so hold on to your hat, or your Cosmic Staff."
Stargirl was given an early renewal for its third season back in May, ahead of its second season premiere — subtitled Summer School — back in August. McHale's promotion to series regular, confirmed by TVLine, points to the show's future featuring quite a bit more Justice Society reunion action, particularly once Sylvester finally makes contact with his old sidekick, Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson).
Though in the comics his hero name was originally The Star-Spangled Kid, and Stargirl's heroic legacy is a hybrid of Pemberton's costume and history and the Cosmic Staff supplied by modern age Starman, Jack Knight, the continuity of the TV series simplified things a bit to make Pemberton the Golden Age Starman. As McHale mentioned, a flashback in the Stargirl pilot reveals him dying in Pat's arms, and leaving his Cosmic Staff behind to one day be reclaimed by a new hero. That hero turns out to be Pat's new stepdaughter Courtney (Brec Bassinger), who adopts the Stargirl moniker and begins fighting the Injustice Society, while Pat resumes his old super-identity of S.T.R.I.P.E.
For a while, it seems McHale's role in the show would be relegated to flashbacks, and he'd make a guest appearance whenever Pat happened to look back on his days in the Justice Society. Then, at the end of Season 1, the show revealed that Sylvester had somehow come back from the dead. As of this writing, he's still making his way toward Pat and Courtney's home in Blue Valley, and his motives remain rather mysterious. Now, we know that whatever Sylvester is up to and however he managed to come back from the dead will likely be a major part of Season 3's story.
Stargirl airs Tuesdays on The CW.
