‘Stargirl’ Series Latest Addition for DC Universe SVOD Service

DC Universe is making a big splash at San Diego Comic-Con.

The forthcoming SVOD platform opened the confab with a first look at its scripted originals with Titans and on Thursday afternoon unveiled its sixth overall series: a live-action Stargirl.

Geoff Johns, who revealed the news during his spotlight panel, will write and executive produce the 13-episode scripted original series via his Mad Ghost Productions banner. The project hails from Warner Bros. Television and Greg Berlanti’s studio-based Berlanti Productions, with Sarah Schechter also serving as an exec producer. The series will bow in 2019.

Stargirl follows high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore, who inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. The show reimagines Stargirl and the very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in a fun, exciting and unpredictable series.

Johns and Lee Moder created the character, who was named after the former’s sister, Courtney, who died in the 1996 explosion of TWA Flight 800. The character made her first appearance in July 1999’s Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #1.

In making the announcement, Johns addressed his recent departure as DC’s chief creative offer and noted that he would have not been able to write such a deeply personal series if he were still in that executive role. “It’s so personal for me, and to create and run my show … this is the kind of opportunity that I couldn’t have had if I had stayed in that role,” Johns said of the series, which he said would be a “PG-13 show.”

“This is based on my sister. The character is fun and optimistic,” he added of the series about a girl whose mom remarries and moves to a new town where she discovers that her step-father was a superhero a long time ago. Johns’ sister passed away in an accident when he was younger.

“It’s about bringing back the legacy of the Justice Society,” he added, referring to DC’s first superhero team from the comics first published in the 1940s.

All told, Stargirl is DC Universe’s sixth overall series. The platform, which launches in August, previously announced live-action straight-to-series orders for Swamp Thing; Doom Patrol; Superman prequel Metropolis; Titans; and a pair of animated series from Warner Bros. Animation, Harley Quinn and Young Justice: Outsiders.

With Stargirl, Berlanti has padded his TV record to 15 live-action scripted series — all dramas. Of those, 10 are on broadcast: The CW’s All American, Arrow, Black Lightning, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Riverdale and Supergirl; NBC’s Blindspot; CBS’ God Friended Me and The Red Line; plus one at Netflix, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina; Lifetime’s You; and DC Universe’s Titans and Doom Patrol. Berlanti also stands to add yet another DC superhero drama next season as The CW announced plans to bring Batwoman to the small screen with the prolific producer and writer Caroline Dries.

Johns also discussed his new writing projects, a new magic-focused Shazam! comic and a Batman story titled Three Jokers, among them.

Berlanti and Johns are repped by WME.

‘Stargirl’ Live-Action Drama From Greg Berlanti, Geoff Johns Joins DC Universe Slate

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