Yesterday and this morning have seen a flurry of casting news for the DC Universe streaming service’s slate of upcoming shows, with two new characters revealed for Stargirl, and a third set to debut on Swamp Thing. First, the Stargirl news:
- Variety reported yesterday that Joel McHale (The Soup, Community) has been cast as Sylvester Pemberton, who in the comics went by the superhero aliases Star-Spangled Kid and, later, Skyman, though per Variety the Stargirl version of the character will have taken up the mantle of Starman at some point. Initially a non-powered superhero who fought alongside an older sidekick named Stripesy, Star-Spangled Kid was eventually given the cosmic rod by original Starman Ted Knight, which Pemberton later converted into a Cosmic Converter Belt. The rod/belt gave him the ability to fly, along with enhanced strength and speed. Courtney Whitmore would eventually inherit the Cosmic Converter Belt when she became the second Star-Spangled Kid (alongside Pat Dugan, former Stripesy and Courtney’s step-father, who wore a suit of armor and became S.T.R.I.P.E.), and was gifted a new version of the cosmic rod by Jack Knight when he retired as Starman, at which point she officially changed her name to Stargirl.
- Lou Ferrigno Jr. (How I Met Your Mother, S.W.A.T.) has also been cast as Hourman on the series, according to TV Line. The article describes the character on Stargirl as being the original Hourman, Rex Tyler, though the accompanying image is of the second Hourman, Rick Tyler, who served alongside Pemberton in the original iteration of Infinity, Inc., and later joined the Justice Society of America, where he would eventually serve alongside Stargirl. Ferrigno Jr. is the son of Lou Ferrigno, TV’s Incredible Hulk.
And finally, according to Deadline, Swamp Thing has added Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills 90210, all the Sharknados) as Daniel Cassidy, otherwise known as Blue Devil. A Hollywood stuntman, Cassidy became Blue Devil after a demon melded a costume Cassidy was wearing to his skin. The suit contained an exoskeleton, giving Cassidy increased strength to go along with his natural agility as a standman. During the 1997 Underworld Unleashed storyline, Cassidy was transformed into an actual demon after making a bad deal with Neron. He would go on to join with other magic-wielding characters as part of the Shadowpact team.
Both Stargirl and Swamp Thing are still in development, slated to join the currently-running Titans TV series on DC Universe in 2019.
