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Stargirl season 2 has Courtney Whitmore and her Justice Society of America team facing one of the scariest DC Comics villains of all time. And after the terrifying show he put on in Episode 5, Eclipso proved he’s making this season of the CW superhero series much darker than the first. 

The ‘Stargirl’ Season 1 villains weren’t as scary

DC Universe Stargirl: Brec Bassinger
Brec Bassinger | Jace Downs/The CW

Courtney, Yolanda, Beth, and Rick start their journey as JSA superheroes in Stargirl Season 1. And the first Injustice Society of America villains they face aren’t too hard to defeat. 

With Pat’s help, the crew brings down The Gambler, Sportsmaster, Tigress, and Brainwave.  The scarier members of the ISA bunch, Dragon King and Solomon Grundy, are more of a challenge. But in the end, Dragon King is killed by his daughter Cindy. And an empathetic Rick lets Grundy escape.

And Icicle, the formidable leader of the ISA, is harder to stop. But he’s eventually killed when  Mike accidentally plows a pickup truck through him.  

These ISA villains weren’t scary at all. And while they may have been suitable foes for a novice JSA, their stories made for a much lighter season.

But Eclipso’s terrifying presence in ‘Stargirl’ Season 2 is a game-changer

Eclipso is the big bad of Stargirl Season 2. And week-by-week, fans are getting to see more of his terrifying powers. 

But unlike the villains of Season 1, Eclipso is not a person. He doesn’t live a human life, and he has no relatable emotions or relationships. 

In DC Comics, Eclipso is an entity that God created. He has the power to fly, control the weather, possess anyone, including superheroes, and emit deadly energy from his eyes. And as seen in “Summer School: Chapter Five,” Eclipso can also manipulate matter in the most frightening of ways. 

Eclipso’s emergence is a game-changer. Because, as Shade suggested, Eclipso is not just bad. He’s evil. 

So, the JSA can’t Scooby-Doo their way out of this fight like they did in Season 1. And they’ll have to hit back harder and with a lot more maturity. 

‘Stargirl’ creator Geoff Johns wanted to make Season 2 darker than the first

Eclipso’s arrival makes Season 2 of Stargirl much darker. And according to series creator Geoff Johns, it’s by design. 

“Eclipso’s an amazing character — he’s more of a demonic force in the same vein as, like, a Freddy Krueger or a Pennywise,” Johns told Bleeding Cool. “And to have the kids and the adults go up against something like that this season —  it was all about darkness versus light, which is very perfect for somebody like Stargirl.”

“We didn’t want to not be Stargirl,” he added. “But at the same time, we wanted to take some challenges and lean into a little bit of the horror element, the suspense element.”

This season is giving the show a tonal makeover. And that’s something Johns wanted to make clear within the first moments of the premiere when Eclipso kills Dr. Mid-Nite’s young daughter. 

“You know that first scene was purposely set up to be mysterious and both specific and vague at the same time,” he revealed. “Right away, it lets you know that we’re going to get scary this season.”

New episodes of Stargirl air Tuesdays, at 8:00 p.m. EST on The CW.

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