DC’s Stargirl: Starman’s Return Explained

Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl (Brec Bassinger) and her stepfather Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson) were stunned at the end of Season 2 of DC’s Stargirl to discover that Sylvester Pemberton/Starman (Joel McHale) was alive and well, more than a decade after having seemingly been killed in battle with the Injustice Society. With McHale upped to series regular for The CW series’ third season, heading into the Season 3 premiere fans of DC’s Stargirl already knew that they’d be seeing more of the character and, hopefully, would get an explanation for his return. Now, with the series officially back, fans are getting just that — sort of.

Warning! Spoilers for the Season 3 premiere of DC’s Stargirl, “Frenemies – Chapter 1: The Murder”, beyond this point.

The season premiere finds Sylvester living with the Whitmore/Dugan family, having taken up residence in the basement and making some home improvements while the family was on vacation — namely building a display case for Cosmo, the cosmic staff, and repairing the kitchen that was seriously damaged when Courtney and Jade battled in Season 2. But while Sylvester is trying to be a good houseguest, there is definitely some tension there, particular for Courtney who is concerned that Sylvester has come to take back the staff and, thus, strip her of her ability to be Stargirl. While it is eventually revealed that that was indeed Sylvester’s initial reason for tracking Pat down, there are some other revelations as well, the big one being that Sylvester isn’t exactly sure how he’s come back to life.

Sylvester explains that he woke up in his own coffin and it is strongly implied that he had, until that point, indeed been dead. The only explanation he has for why he suddenly returned to life was that it has something to do with the connection to the staff and that when Courtney found her connection to it, his own reignited and brought him back as well, leading him to dig himself out of his own grave.

But that really only explains the return of Sylvester Pemberton. There’s still the matter of Starman to address as he also makes something of a return in the episode as well. While Courtney is in school, Sylvester takes the staff to go out with Pat in S.T.R.I.P.E. This leads to the conversation in which Sylvester admits to Courtney that he had originally came to reclaim the staff but that now, he sees the connection Courtney has to the staff and wants to train her instead. Courtney has a slightly different idea: she suggests that while she is in school, he can use the staff to be Starman and when she’s not in school, she takes over as Stargirl. The two will share the staff and the responsibilities.

How time-sharing the staff and heroic responsibilities will play out is something that fans will have to stay tuned for, but the episode synopsis for the season’s second episode “The Suspects” hints that it may get a little complicated pretty quickly, as Sylvester’s old ways may clash with the new JSA’s way of doing business.  You can check out that episode synopsis for yourself here.

DC’s Stargirl airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

Are you excited to see Starman in Season 3 of DC’s Stargirl? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!