The CW’s DC seriesStargirlmay have just ended its run, but it turns out the original creator of the character still had some ideas up his sleeve. Not only were the folks behindStargirlhoping to continue after season 3, but it turns out they had been setting up a full-blown spinoff separate from the main Justice Society of America.
Beforethe unfortunate cancelation ofStargirl, viewers may have noticed the introduction of several new characters by way of Green Lantern’s children Jennie Hayden/Jade (Ysa Penarejo) and her brother Todd (Tim Gabriel), who seemed separate from the show’s main storylines. That was no accident, as executive producer and creator of theStargirlcharacter Geoff Johns had fully intended to start a whole new series centered on these newbies tentatively titledInfinity Inc. Not only that, but they would be under the tutelage of former villain The Shade (Jonathan Cake), whose reluctant heel-face turn and charmingly affluent personality had endeared him to audiences over the past 2 seasons.
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Aside fromStargirl’s scrapped season 4 plans, there was something else in the works, and this news comes directly from Johns himself. “Yes, I think there was a great show inInfinity Inc,” he said when speaking withTVLine, “with The Shade and Jade hunting down the remaining family members — the sons and daughters and nephews and nieces — of the original JSA, those who were born with power that didn’t yet unlock it.” He described how it would have differed fromStargirl, focusing on newbie heroes coming into their inherent power rather than gaining abilities through artifacts.
“I think there would’ve been something fun about watching The Shade as a villain trying to reform himself by recreating a new superhero team,” Johns continued. “There would’ve been something really compelling about that as a show.“As far as villains turned heroes go, The Shade is arguably among the most enjoyable, given his grumbly personality and sarcasm when trying to reconcile with his reformation. So an entire show with him as the eye-rolling mentor figure could have been a lot of fun.
Among the various recent CW cancelations,Stargirlmay have been one of the most tragic. The series still had plenty of potential, and viewers had regularly held it up as one of the more high-quality superhero shows on TV. It came out of almost nowhere as well, barely a month after series starBrec Bassinger teased a possible crossover withTitans. The worst part is, there’s likely nothing it could have done to stay on the air, as the abrupt end was less about quality and more about behind-the-scenes restructuring at The CW.
Here’s hoping this isn’t the end of the charismatic JSA introduced inStargirl. There’s still a ton of potential there, and perhaps even theInfinity Inc.spinoff could still have a shot as its own thing. It’s tough to be optimistic given The CW’s decisions lately, but it can’t hurt to be a little hopeful.
Stargirlseasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on HBO Max, with season 3 currently up on The CW’s streaming service.
