DC's Stargirl: Brec Bassinger Previews Season 3's New Challenges and "Frenemies"

Season 2 of The CW's DC's Stargirl left the JSA — and its leader, Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl — in an interesting place. Not only did the young team of heroes deal with their most terrifying villain to date, but they had some major growing up to do personally as well as each of the heroes faced major shifts and challenges personally. In the end, justice prevailed and saw the team poised to be stronger than ever even as a new twist was thrown their way: the return of some old Injustice Society members not as foes but as neighbors, presumably set to live peacefully side by side with the heroes in Blue Valley, Nebraska. But in a world of heroes and villains, there is no such thing as a quiet peace. The third season of DC's Stargirl kicks off tonight with the heroes heading into what series star Brec Bassinger has previously described as a murder mystery and now, Bassinger is giving ComicBook.com a glimpse of where the heroes are as this new adventure begins.

"Coming off of Season 2, it was basically the heroes and the villains teamed up together to defeat Eclipso, so Courtney has this new look on life, new perspective that yes, there's bad in everyone, but there's also good in everyone, even the villains," Bassinger told us in a recent interview. "So, coming into Season 3, we have Sportsmaster and Tigress as our neighbors, Cindy Burman is joining the JSA. So, there's just lots of 'have they turned new leaves, are they actually good now? Are they still villains? Who knows.' Courtney's kind of an advocate for all of them, but when a murder pops up in Blue Valley, fingers start being pointed."

It isn't just a murder and finger-pointing that are big challenges for Season 3, though. Season 2 saw the very unexpected return of Sylvester Pemberton/Starman (Joel McHale) who had previously been believed to be dead. It's a return that Bassinger says leaves Courtney with a lot of questions, but a lot of opportunity as well.

"There's so many questions that Courtney has coming into Season 3," Bassinger said. "First of all, why is he back? Did he come back to take the staff? Is the staff even going to work for him anymore? Is the staff going to work for Courtney if he's there? So, there's so many questions that are quickly answered, but then of course with him back, there has to be a balance of who will get the staff when, so once again more questions are posed, but Courtney looks up to Starman, she always has. At one point she even saw him as a father figure so having the original beholder of the staff at her fingers, I think it's really nice that he kind of trains her and there's a lot of fun stuff between them."

But even with "fun stuff" coming for Courtney in Season 3, there are some real challenges as well — especially when it comes to the seemingly reformed Cindy as well as Courtney's own budding relationship with Cameron Mahkent. Bassinger teased that things get emotional for Courtney during the season as she and the others take all these new challenges on.

"There's so much push and pull, even when it comes to Cindy. She wants to trust her, but then there are some red flags so she feels pressure that maybe she's wrong … and then looking at Cameron, the 'Camney' relationship, she wants to tell him the truth, but she feels like she can't and there's people telling her that she can't," Bassinger said. "So, there's so much push and pull that she's having to face. And so many obstacles that she can't help but get emotional."

Fans should prepare for that emotional ride to carry all the way through the season finale as well so if fans had to turn on their nightlights last season, they might want their tissues this time around.

"I just watched the finale, and I was bawling," Bassinger said. "I had to walk out of the room because I was crying so hard."

DC's Stargirl airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. The Season 3 premiere, "Frenemies – Chapter 1: The Murder" airs August 31st.

Are you looking forward to Season 3 of DC's Stargirl? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!