‘Stargirl’ will continue to soar, as a second season has been ordered. But there is a huge change in the way the show will be made available. It will now ONLY be shown on The CW and its related platforms, including The CW app and website. It will no longer be carried by DC Universe, the little streaming service that couldn’t.
‘Stargirl’ was developed for DC Universe, a WarnerMedia-owned streaming service that debuted in 2018. However, shortly before its release, it was announced that ‘Stargirl’ would be shared with The CW, with episodes airing on that network the day following their premiere on DC Universe. Further, episodes would then be streamable for free on The CW app and CWTV.com. It was stated that ‘Stargirl’ has delivered “solid” ratings for The CW since its debut.
This move followed the announcement that ‘Doom Patrol’ would similarly be shared between DC Universe and HBO Max, also owned by WarnerMedia. Just days ago, it was revealed that the adult animated series ‘Harley Quinn’ is also going to be shared with HBO Max beginning this summer.
In May, it was announced that The CW would air DC Universe’s ‘Swamp Thing’, a show that the service cancelled after releasing just one episode. Though nothing is guaranteed, the fact that The CW is airing this series hints that a revival could happen.
The big question is, what will happen to DC Universe? Is it dying? It now only has two exclusive original series, ‘Titans’ and ‘Young Justice’, both of which have had new seasons ordered. The service was intended to be a one-stop destination for all DC-related shows and movies, but its offerings have always been meager and have fluctuated. The Burton/Schumacher ‘Batman’ movies and Christopher Reeve ‘Superman’ movies have drifted in and out. Nolan’s ‘Batman Begins’ was offered for a time, but has also come and gone. NONE of the modern DC movies, starting with ‘Man of Steel’ and moving forward, have ever been offered. The CW shows aren’t even on it! Not even ‘Smallville’! Ditto for the classic 1960s ‘Batman’ series. It really has failed to deliver what it promised.
But at $7.99 a month, it’s relatively cheap and it does offer an extensive library of digital comics. It seems that this will be the focus moving forward. It will also offer news about the comic book side of things, even though it recently axed ‘DC Daily’, its Monday-Friday news show hosted by a bunch of people that seem to have learned about DC Comics in the two weeks they had between being hired and going live on the air.
So essentially, DC Universe has become a digital comic book service, with some related media as bonus material. Keep in mind, at this point, ‘Doom Patrol’ and ‘Harley Quinn’ are shared between DC Universe and HBO Max, but keep an eye out to see if a similar decision is made to make them exclusive to the larger service.
Brec Bassinger heads up the cast of ‘Stargirl’, which also includes Christopher James Baker (Henry King Sr./Brainwave), Meg DeLacy (Cindy Burman/Shiv), Cameron Gellman (Rick Tyler/Hourman II), Neil Jackson (Jordan Mahkent/Icicle), Yvette Monreal (Yolanda Montez/Wildcat II), Trae Romano (Mike Dugan), Hunter Sansone (Cameron Mahkent), Amy Smart (Barbara Whitmore Dugan), Jake Austin Walker (Henry KIng Jr.), Anjelika Washington (Beth Chapel/Dr. Mid-Nite II), and Luke Wilson (Pat Dugan).
Eight episodes of the first season have been released out of a total of 13. They are available on DC Universe and The CW app and CWTV.com.
Source: Deadline
