What You Need To Remember Before Watching Stargirl Season 2

The CW is adding a new star to its plethora of superhero TV offerings. 

"Stargirl" follows the adventures of high school student Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger), who discovers a powerful Cosmic Staff in the basement of her family home in Blue Valley, Nebraska, that once belonged to the hero Starman. Her stepfather, Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson), was once Starman's sidekick and has been keeping the staff on his request ever since the Justice Society of America was wiped out by their evil rivals, the Injustice Society of America, years ago. Over Pat's initial objections, Courtney uses the staff to battle evil in Blue Valley. He assists her as S.T.R.I.P.E., using a powerful suit of armor he's built in his garage. The pair recruit allies, and soon find themselves on the trail of the still-active ISA.

Season 1 of "Stargirl" aired originally on the DC Universe streaming service, but now that it has gone belly-up, the show will be moving permanently to a new home on The CW, where the second season will premiere on August 10. Here's what you need to remember before Season 2 kicks off.

"Stargirl" Season 1's two-part finale ended with the near-complete destruction of the ISA and the foiling of their long-gestating Project: New America, which would have remade the country via mass brainwashing with a focus on clean energy, combatting climate change, and ending discrimination ... at the cost of roughly 25 million lives.

Courtney and her new JSA –– Wildcat (Yvette Monreal), Doctor Mid-Nite (Anjelika Washington), and Hourman (Cameron Gellman) –– storm the ISA headquarters and defeat the collection of villains. Wildcat kills the mind-controlling Brainwave (Christopher James Baker). Mastermind Icicle (Neil Jackson) is killed by Courtney's powerless stepbrother Mike (Trae Romano), who hits him with a truck. Evil geneticist Dragon King (Nelson Lee) gets knocked off by his daughter Cindy "Shiv" Burman (Meg DeLacy), who wants to follow in his villainous footsteps but did not appreciate being locked up by him in retaliation for her attacks on Stargirl.

As far as our heroes are concerned, the day is saved. Their efforts at learning to control their powers and being the best heroes they can be all pay off at the end of the season, though the finale hinted at new threats to come.

First and foremost was the appearance of the powerful shadow master Shade, who will be played in Season 2 by Jonathan Cake. In the comics, Shade is immortal and nearly invulnerable, and his command of the shadows has given him powers ranging from teleportation to the ability to create fearsome constructs. Shade has not only been a villain during his history; he's also served as a mentor to the next generation's Starman, Jack Knight, but his presence in the IJA's headquarters in the finale and the face-off seen in the trailer certainly make him appear to be a villain here.

In addition to Shade, the Season 1 finale also showed Shiv obtaining a gem that appeared to contain the primordial magical entity Eclipso (Nick Tarabay), who is capable of possessing beings and augmenting their powers at the very least and of massive feats of destruction, weather manipulation and the bending of reality itself at his full powers. Safe to say, he'll be a problem.

Another new face featured prominently in the trailer for Season 2: Jade (Ysa Penarejo), the daughter of Green Lantern Alan Scott. The scene in the trailer shows a fight between Jade and Courtney, but it seems likely they'll end up working together before the end of the season. When your villain can create shadows out of thin air, it's good to have as many light sources as possible on your team.

Lastly, a man who looks a lot like the original Starman, Sylvester Pemberton (Joel McHale), was seen in California, asking around about where he might find Pat. 

The trailer released last month by The CW gave a sense of the direction Season 2 of "Stargirl" is going to take.

It starts with the new Hourman ticking off the whereabouts of last season's villains. Solomon Grundy? Defeated. (The synopsis for the first episode of Season 2 hints that this battle may carry over into Season 2.) Dragon King? Dead. Tigress and Sportsmaster? Locked up. Cindy Burman? Well, audiences know she wasn't crushed by a falling satellite dish, but four out of five ain't bad.

His point is that Blue Valley appears to be safe. It's okay for the new JSA to take a step back. Courtney doesn't agree with him, though. That feels like quitting to her. But her stepfather Pat agrees, and so does her mother. They don't think it's her job to go looking for trouble, especially when her superheroics seem to be interfering with her actual life. Pat urges her to find a balance.

This being the second season of a superhero show, however, Courtney's problems don't stay limited to missed homework assignments. Cindy Burman is seen stalking about the headquarters of the ISA, and given the show's emphasis on how the legacies of their parents can influence children, it seems likely that she's going to try to do something with the plethora of supervillain kids hanging around Blue Valley.

When and how all these threads will come together in Season 2 remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Stargirl can afford to play the long game. The show has already been renewed for a third season at the CW.