One HBO Max series took the lofty ambition of mixing The Flash and Watchmen and somehow managed to make this weird mix work. There is no shortage of superhero shows in the 2020s, so it takes a lot for a new entry into the genre to stand out in this decade. Ever since Prime Video’s The Boys took R-rated superhero stories way farther than any earlier subversive show, the genre has needed to get weirder, darker, sillier, and more inventive to keep viewers invested.

One series that managed this, at least as far as critics were concerned, was 2019’s Watchmen reboot. The show’s reputation as a bastion of progressive social commentary was forever tarnished when journalist Maureen Ryan’s book Burn It Down saw Lost star Harold Perrineau allege that Watchmen creator Damon Lindelof created a toxic, racist work environment on the seminal ABC show. However, Watchmen’s 2019 reinvention of Alan Moore’s original graphic novel remains wheavily defended by many reviewers.

On the other tonal extreme of the genre, the Arrowverse offered viewers a version of superhero shows that were not only sillier than Watchmen, but arguably some of the most playful on TV. While the outright absurd Legends of Tomorrow was the goofiest and most self-aware of these shows, 2014’s The Flash was an earner hit that succeeded precisely because of its light, campy tone. Incredibly enough, 2021’s Stargirl took the opposing extremes of The Flash and Watchmen and made them work in an unlikely mashup.

Stargirl Mixes Watchmen’s Plot With The Flash’s Lighter Tone

Starring Brec Bassinger as the title character, high school student Courtney Whitmore, Stargirl begins when Courtney discovers Starman’s Cosmic Staff and inherits his superpowers. Courtney’s upbeat attitude and earnest belief in the power of heroism to right the world’s wrongs call to mind The Flash, but the show isn’t all sunshine and superpowers. Opening with the death of the original Justice Society of America, Stargirl has a dark conspiracy at its core that is borrowed from Watchmen’s plot.

The Injustice Society of America’s attempts to brainwash America play out like a campier spin on Ozymandias’s attempts at mass population control in Watchmen, while the revelations about the original Justice Society of America’s past misdeeds in later seasons call to mind the moral complexity of Watchmen’s multi-generational superhero story. The big difference, however, is Stargirl’s eventual return to its title character.

Like a reversed version of Netflix’s cynical Wednesday, Bassinger’s unflappable Stargirl can handle any hardship and weather any storm with a smile and a can-do attitude. It is this outlook and her unerring faith in other people that makes Stargirl stand out in the world of DC’s 2020s shows. Between R-rated offerings like Doom Patrol, Titans, Harley Quinn and Peacemaker, it’s fair to say they tend to be more a lot more cynical.

Stargirl Is One Of The DC Universe’s Most Family-Friendly Shows (And That’s Good)

While Stargirl has plenty of high-stakes action, there can be no doubt about the fact that the series is the lightest and most family-friendly live-action DC show since The Flash, and arguably even before that, thanks to The Flash’s darker storylines. This makes for a welcome change of pace in an era when superhero shows like Lanterns are, more often than not, trying to feel more like True Detective and Sharp Objects than Christopher Reeve’s Superman movies.

The sunny optimism of James Gunn’s 2025 Superman movie proves that, for all the ultra-violence of Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad, there is a welcome, unironic embrace of optimism at the core of the franchise. By taking Watchmen’s ambitious premise and turning it into the most family-friendly DC series since The Flash, the underrated Stargirl perfectly epitomizes this outlook.

Release Date

2020 – 2022-00-00

Directors

Lea Thompson, Greg Beeman, Glen Winter, Jennifer Phang, David Straiton, Geary McLeod, Michael Nankin, Rob Hardy, Tamra Davis

Writers

Geoff Johns, Evan Ball, Paula Sevenbergen, James Robinson, Robbie Hyne, Taylor Streitz

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  Henry Thomas

  Charles McNider / Dr. Mid-Nite

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  Joel McHale

  Sylvester Pemberton