Geoff Johns Compares ‘Stargirl’ TV Series to ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’

Stargirl is officially the next DC Comics property to be headed to television, and it sounds like the series his drawing inspiration from quite a few places.

Geoff Johns, who will produce and write the upcoming live-action series, recently talked about the project in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. As he explained, Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl’s journey will be a uniquely teenaged show, with plenty of DC Comics lore folded in.

“It’s cool; it’s going to take the Stars and STRIPE comic, the Justice Society comic, and merge it into one thing.” Johns revealed. “And tonally, it’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and Buffy the Vampire Slayer along with the [comic] books. We’re bringing a lot of the legacy stuff into it, a lot of the stuff James Robinson did with the Justice Society. I love all of that, his JSA: The Golden Age series, launching the [1999 series] JSA… I’ve always wanted to do a series based on Stars and STRIPE, so it’s really exciting.”

As Johns put it, the idea of setting a superhero television series entirely in high school will help set it apart, while creating some pretty fun storytelling possibilities.

“It’s a story about a combined family, and a young girl in school.” Johns explained. “It takes place in high school; I don’t think we see a lot of superhero shows in high schools… I’m not sure there is another superhero show that takes place in high school; I love that, you know? There’s going to be good guys and bad guys. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Stargirl will follow high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore, who inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop villains from the past. The series will feature appearances and references to multiple members of the Justice Society of America, the group that Courtney is most often associated with in the comics. The series is described as “fun, exciting, and unpredictable”, and the approach to it is inspired by Superman: The Movie and Wonder Woman.

Courtney was originally created by Johns and Lee Moder, and was inspired by Johns’ late sister of the same name. Stargirl first made her DC Comics debut in 1999’s Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #1. And while the character has appeared in live-action on both Smallville and Legends of Tomorrow, Johns has put a lot of effort into bringing her into her own series.

“I’ve been wanting to do it for awhile, and the truth is, over the last few years as I’d been talking to Warners and DC about getting back to wanting to write and produce, this was something that was at the very top of my list.” Johns added. “I’ve been working with Greg and Sarah over at Berlanti TV, and with Warner TV — I mean, I’ve been working with them for years. It’s been great. I get to work with my team at DC in a more creative way. It’s been in my head for awhile, and once I made the move at DC, it came together pretty quickly.”

This will mark the sixth original series for DC Universe, joining Titans, Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing, Harley Quinn, and Young Justice: Outsiders. The streaming service recently announced its initial subscription options, and is expected to roll out sometime this fall.

Are you excited to see Stargirl have her own television series? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Stargirl is expected to debut sometime in 2019.