'DC's Stargirl' Season 2 Heading To The CW – Is The DC Universe Streaming Service Dying?

DC's Stargirl is shooting for the stars, and landing at a new network. The DC Universe original is leaving the fledgling streaming platform for The CW, which has renewed Stargirl for a second season and will become the exclusive home for the breakout superhero series next season. Stargirl is just the latest series to abandon the fast-dwindling DC Universe, which is losing shows to HBO Max and The CW, in a move that may indicate that Warner Media is abandoning the short-lived DC-centric streaming platform.

Deadline reports that The CW has renewed Stargirl season 2 and taken on the exclusive in-season streaming rights for the superhero series starring Brec Bassinger. The episodes will air on The CW network and stream the next day on The CW's free ad-supported streaming platforms.

Originally developed as a DC Universe original, Stargirl is cutting ties with the DC Universe digital subscription service and become a full-fledged CW series, joining the pantheon of CW superhero series like The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Batgirl, and Supergirl. Like the latter show, which started off as a CBS series before migrating to the CW, Stargirl will likely take advantage of the neat multiverse structure that the CW superhero series are packaged in, and take place in an alternate dimension from the other shows.

Deadline adds that going forward, Stargirl will not be available on DC Universe. The CW, which aired new episodes of Stargirl a day after their debut on DC Universe, found success with the series, drawing a solid viewership each episode of its first season, of which it's currently halfway through. With this move, Stargirl is the latest series to quietly move off DC Universe, which only has one exclusive original series now: Titans. Others have been canceled, while others, like Doom Patrol, are shared with HBO Max. It's clear that Warner Media is quietly killing DC Universe as a streaming platform now that it has HBO Max, which has become the hub for all things Warner Bros., DC, and various other properties it has acquired or licensed like Studio Ghibli and Friends. With Stargirl, which debuted to mostly positive reviews, leaving DC Universe, this could be the death knell for the streaming platform.

Stargirl is executive produced by Geoff Johns, who created the character in 1999, with Melissa Carter, who serves as co-showrunner. The CW's Arrow-verse maestro Greg Berlanti also serves as executive producer alongside Sarah Schechter and Greg Beeman. In addition to Bassinger, the series also stars Luke Wilson, Amy Smart, Yvette Monreal, Anjelika Washington, Cameron Gellman, Trae Romano, Jake Austin Walker, Hunter Sansone, Meg DeLacy, Neil Jackson and Christopher James Baker. Stargirl currently debuts new episodes on DC Universe on Mondays.

DC's Stargirl follows high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore as she inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. This new drama reimagines DC's Stargirl and the very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in an unpredictable series.