'Stargirl' Has Ties to the Arrowverse, but Does It Take Place in the Same Universe?

The world of movies and TV shows based on classic DC heroes reaches far and wide, and there's something for everyone in the pantheon. There's Batwoman, The Flash, and of course, Stargirl. As one of the newest offerings, Stargirl takes the gritty, sometimes violent DC drama in a family-friendly direction.

10 years after the fall of the Justice Society of America, high school student Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger) comes upon the Cosmic Staff that previously belonged to a hero named Starman. She and her new friends in the city of Blue Valley then band together to reform their own Justice Society and take on the dastardly villains of the Injustice Society of America. The show has been on for two seasons and was renewed for a third.

Like any DC show, there's the potential for a show like Stargirl to cross over with other heroes. But does that mean Stargirl takes place in the Arrowverse?

The Arrowverse is a shared fictional universe of DC television series. Kicked off with Green Arrow in the 2012 CW series, Arrow, the Arrowverse collects several DC shows — like The Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, etc — and unifies them into one common canon. This lends them to yearly crossover events where the different protagonists of each series team up against a common threat.

While the Arrowverse typically collects certain DC shows as part of the shared canon, there's been plenty of wiggle room to include other shows as well. Case in point: Stargirl. As of now, Courtney Whitmore and the Justice Society are not technically part of the Arrowverse and do not share the same physical universe with other characters like Ryan Wilder or Barry Allen.

However, Stargirl does take place in Earth-2, an alternate reality created from the events of the Arrowverse crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths. While Stargirl doesn't exist in the same exact plane of reality as the other shows, the show does run parallel to the canon of the Arrowverse, meaning it's certainly possible for them to eventually meet.

According to show creator Geoff Johns, the first season was primarily focused on establishing the titular Stargirl and the Justice Society as their own characters before entertaining the idea of a crossover.

"The future is wide open in the DC multiverse, so anything can happen between film and TV," Geoff told IGN in a March 2020 interview. He went on to say, "the first season is all about making sure that Stargirl is the best show it can possibly be."

In the show's second season, potential for Arrowverse crossovers began to take shape. In Season 2 Episode 9, "Summer School: Chapter Nine," actor John Wesley Shipp reprised his role as old-timey speedster Jay Garrick, a key character in The Flash.

Geoff once again spoke about the possibilities of Stargirl meeting heroes the Arrowverse in regards to Jay Garrick's appearance.

"It opens up the door to opportunities for us to eventually interact with those characters, and that was important," Geoff stated as reported by TV Line. "And when we eventually do do it, we'll do it in a hopefully special, Stargirl way."

The potential for a crossover for any form of on-screen DC media is practically limitless. Within the expansive DC Multiverse, every show and movie and even obscure animated web series run parallel to each other, and the franchise's penchant for breaking into alternate realities paves the way for any universe to cross over with another one.

The Arrowverse shows have made on-screen references not just to Stargirl, but to shows like Titans on HBO Max as well.

Even movies have the potential to meet the Arrowverse. Ezra Miller, who portrays the film version of The Flash in the DC Extended Universe, made a brief cameo in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Actor Brandon Routh, who plays Ray Palmer in Legends of Tomorrow, even reprised his role as the Last Son of Krypton from 2006's Superman Returns in the same event. If you exist in a DC form of media, you should never say never when it comes to a crossover.

The season finale of Stargirl premieres tonight at 8 PM EST on The CW.