Stargirl Creator Geoff Johns Talks Series Finale Twists, Alternate Ending And That Superfun Time Jump
The following contains spoilers from the DC's Stargirl series finale, which premiered Dec. 7 on The CW.
DC's Stargirl this Wednesday night ended its three-season run on its own terms, having been invited to plan for a possible series finale. Fights were waged and justice was served, so much aftermath was had, and to top it all off, there was a time jump chockablock with fun facts and Easter eggs.
The cold open flashed back to nine months ago, where Dr. Ito and a reconstituted Jordan exhumed Sylvester's body and readied to to accept a transplanted brain from the Ultra-Humanite — thus giving the baddies a beloved hero to propagate their brainwashing agenda. Dr. Ito in turn would have his own brain put into the albino gorilla and in doing so realize his best self.
Back in the present, Courtney, Yolanda, Beth and Rick came to realize that Starman/Sylvester has been fracturing and powering down their team. When Jordan summoned the JSA to the junkyard, ostensibly to talk things out, Starman informed Courtney that Pat was dead, having ventured into the woods alone and gotten killed by the Ultra-Humanite. Thing is, earlier in the hour we saw Pat extricate himself from his muddy grave. So when S.T.R.I.P.E. floated into the junkyard, "Starman" was thoroughly annoyed. And as it became clear that the Ultra-Humanite was in Starman's body, an epic melee ensued.
Stargirl squared off against Icicle, S.T.R.I.P.E. took on the Ultra-Humanite, and Wildcat and Doctor Mid-Nite matched up again against Lily and Sofus Mahkent — though the latter was quick to take a pass on duking it out with Combat Mode Beth. Seeing the hubs flake out, Lily was rarin' to start killing the kids, but Wildcat's acrobatics happened to jostle free a junked car up above, which then fell and crushed the malevolent matriarch, leaving only her feet sticking out from the debris, Wicked Witch-style.
Cindy, Mike and Jakeem also arrived on the scene, where the former fought with her gorilla of a dad. And when that match-up turned brutal, Jakeem used Thunderbolt to help out "the prettiest girl in the world," and the genie poof!d the gorilla into an adorable plush.
As Stargirl sustained icy blows from Icicle, an unexpected archer showed up to fire at least one arrow into Jordan — Barbara, having learned a thing or two from the late Paula. Cameron meanwhile grew increasingly conflicted about his allegiance, and ultimately unleashed the full fury of his own powers, transforming his father into some sort of frost cloud that drifted away. He then grabbed his grandfather and announced they'd be leaving town.
As for the Ultra-Humanite.... With a helpful nudge from Barbara, Courtney announced that the cosmic staff's current beholder was not worthy, so Cosmo returned to her. Pat then slugged it out with a powered-down "Sylvester" and ultimately cleaned his clock (and irrevocably damaged the Ultra-Humanite's brain) with a rock.
In the aftermath... oh, there was so much aftermath:
✭ Courtney, Pat and Dr. McNider decided to keep the Ultra-Humanite on life support, in case they one day find Sylvester's brain (which we saw stored inside a far-off mountain).
✭ Courtney found Becky and delivered the note her father, The Gambler, meant her to have.
✭ Rick and then Beth apologized to Beth's parents — after which Beth "officially" asked her folks to be her "sidekicks" (THEIR word, not hers).
✭ Yolanda reached out to her mom, saying that the truth has only made her friends closer with their own families. So, maybe it can do same for them?
✭ Pat and Barbara took Mike to reunite with his mom, Maggie, at her diner.
✭ Rick visited Solomon Grundy's burial site and lamented how everyone seems to come back from the dead but his gargantuan buddy — at which point a big green arm thrust out of the ground.
✭ One night outside the vacant Mahkent home, Courtney turned around to see that Cameron had returned. When he asked if she truly could help him, they ran into each others arms and kissed hugged.
✭ Jordan, hiding out in New Amsterdam, got his just desserts when Artemis lured him into a fiery death.
✭ And last but not least, in a flash-forward to "10 Years From Now".... We saw Richard Swift aka The Shade lead a tour of a JSA museum that was stacked with fun Easter eggs. Courtney, he said, is now Starwoman; the current JSA includes Sand and Damage; the team at one point saved the Seven Soldiers of Victory by defeating the Nebula Man... and Rick and Beth are soon to be married!
The tour was then crashed by the blur of an arriving speedster — Jay Garrick's The Flash — who announced that the JSA was needed ASAP, Swift included. Because as the end card made clear, it will never be "The End" for the adventures of Stargirl.
In the Q&A below, TVLine spoke with Stargirl creator Geoff Johns about planning for a proper series finale, and more.
TVLINE | For starters, I had to wonder if "Starman is actually the Ultra-Humanite" was in fact always your long game, dating back to when Sylvester resurfaced in Season 1's finale?
Yes. Originally when I pitched the show, I had always envisioned [doing] a trilogy of seasons with the ultimate storyline being Sylvester as the thru-line from Season 1 through Season 2. And then ultimately becoming a big character in Season 3 where I felt it was a pretty great exclamation point on Courtney's journey to becoming a hero and Pat's journey to becoming a hero, too. And them interacting with Starman and then having Starman ultimately turn out to be the one thing they need to defeat and overcome and, by doing that, both Courtney and Pat had their own rebirth. Before Joel [McHale] came on the show between Seasons 2 and 2 I pitched him the whole story and we talked about it and there's a moment in Season 2 when he goes to see Mike's mom at this restaurant and he's looking in the rearview mirror of his car before he gets out to check his hair, but he's actually checking to make sure the scars aren't noticeable, and that he looks like Sylvester Pemberton. So there were subtle things that were planted throughout the series that point to that.
TVLINE | In your statement about Stargirl's cancellation, you made clear you were given the chance to prepare a series finale and provide full closure. But if this had been just a season finale, what would have been dropped? Would Cameron maybe not have returned yet?
It would've been exactly the same episode. Someday I might go into what would've happened in [a potential] Season 4, but knowing that we were most likely ending with Season 3 it was always designed to do that. There was an idea in the very final scene [via] a little bit of different dialogue that was going to propel us to a Season 4 story, but I altered it to act as a closing chapter. But there's nothing in the episode that would've dramatically changed.
TVLINE | Can you say anything about what that line of dialogue was? Brec Bassinger said that the Season 4 tease was "insane."
[Laughs] The idea of what we were going to do was insane, yes. Every season we wanted to do something very different. The first season was a coming of age superhero story in the same vein of a lot of movies I loved growing up, like Karate Kid and Back to the Future. The second season was more horror based, inspired by films like Nightmare on Elm Street and Flatliners. And then this season was inspired by mysteries like Murder, She Wrote and Knives Out. Season 4 also had an inspiration that was very different. Someday I'll talk about it. But the change to that final scene is very minor. I'm sure it will hit the [Internet] someday, because it's not like we're putting it in vault or anything. We'll release it someday and maybe talk more about it.
TVLINE | Were the actors who played Lily and Sofus a bit surprised that they had such a major role in Season 3?
They were thrilled. They were so excited to have those characters develop more, and also be in on the action. One of the gifts of the show — with having the deep cast that we did with various heroes and villains and their families — was that we were able to over the course of three seasons explore those characters that felt minor and let them develop and grow into bigger characters. And we always knew the Mahkent family was going to become a major component because it is the rival family to Whitmore/Dugan, and having the grandparents be explored was central to the season.
TVLINE | I doubt many viewers would have noticed if Courtney didn't tie things up with the Gambler's daughter. Why was that scene a "must" for you?
That's a huge scene for me. The whole [reason] Courtney was motivated to do this in the first place was she saw Gambler, as she said early on in the season, acting like a better father than her own biological father. And Pat said it, too, that Courtney's forever pain is going to be her dad. The way he treated her and rejected her, it left a horrible scar. And it's never going to go away. So if she sees an opportunity to prevent somebody from having to feel the way she does, knowing what that pain is like, she's going to do everything that she can to make sure that the other person doesn't feel the way she does. And there's a beautiful moment in that scene where [Courtney] brings the letter and talks to Becky and tells her — I get emotional just thinking about it — that her that her father just didn't want her to think he had abandoned her. He wanted her to know he loved her, no matter what. And when Courtney leaves, you can see her instinctively reach for her locket that's not there. She's thinking about the locket that her dad took, and she stopped because she realizes it's not there. And she quickly regains her composure, puts her umbrella up and walks into the rain. And that was such an important moment that manifested there, because it shows you that she's going to always have that pain in her. And she's going to do whatever she can to make sure others don't feel that way. That's why there was no negotiation about that scene not being in there.
TVLINE | Richard Swift's future speech to the tour group had so many fun nods — including the fact that Rick and Beth are to wed! Was that a parting gift to "HourNite" fans?
It was always where we are taking the characters. I want to build romances, but once they connect and become real I want them to stay that way. I've never been a fan of romances that come together and then break up... I'm not interested in that kind of storytelling... I'm hopeful that the [flash-forward] will make a lot of people happy. Although we would've loved to do more [seasons], we're so grateful for what we did. And I hope people walk away from the finale with the feeling of warmth and happiness, and Beth and Rick's impending nuptials was paramount to that.
TVLINE | The series' very final end card, "Never The End," was oddly emotional for three little words. What all does that mean to you?
It means a lot. In the world of the story it means that the JSA goes on forever. And these wonderful characters have great lives and their adventures continue. We were just able to present you with a handful of the early years. But they went on to become the world's greatest superheroes. And then in the world of the viewers, it's never the end because there are always the memories we have. There are always these episodes you can watch again. There are always these characters you fell in love with; they will always exist. And then it refers to the relationships we made creating the show, with the cast and the crew and the writers and the post-[production] team. I made my best friends making this show. It's been the most amazing part of my career. And we all still talk and hang out and see each other, and that's incredibly rare. Also, we wanted to be uplifting. And "Never the End" is so much more uplifting than just "The End."
TVLINE | Lastly, what do you hope Stargirl's eventual legacy to be? Beyond being an excellent live-action take on a character inspired by your late sister?
This is a very emotional question. I came to my parents house to watch the finale with them because the show has meant so much to my family. [Chokes up] So we're going to watch it tonight and celebrate the show and my sister. I feel like the legacy of the fans of the show and where the show is in relation to other superhero shows is already being forged by the amazing response we got from the show. It was kind of the little show that could. And now Stargirl stands as one of the very few DC female superheroes that have had their own show. There's Wonder Woman and Supergirl and Batwoman and now Stargirl. That's pretty awesome company to be in.