WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "Stargirl," the Stargirl series premiere.


Stargirl's connection to the Cosmic Staff may run in her blood.

In "Stargirl," the series premiere, Courtney Whitmore accidentally stumbled across the Staff as her family moved into their new home in Blue Valley, Nebraska. She bonded with it immediately, much to the horror of her stepfather Pat Dugan. That only intensified when she insisted Starman could be her father.

Pat confronted Courtney as soon as she returned from her first adventure with the Staff. "The Staff is not supposed to work for anyone except Starman," he said.

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"Starman?" she asked.

"Of the Justice Society of America. It was before your time," he explained.

"I know who they are," she shot back, rolling her eyes. "A bunch of superheroes from the old days. They quit when I was a kid."

"Well, they didn't exactly quit," he corrected her. "Starman and the JSA died saving the world 10 years ago. It was Christmas eve."

"10 years ago, on Christmas eve?" she repeated as she gazed down at a photo of the JSA. "Does my mom know any of this?"

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"No. I didn't tell her, and it isn't right not to be honest, but people have died because they got too close to the JSA," he answered. "You know the truth, and you're at risk even now!"

After that, she tuned him out and opened the locket hanging around her neck, which contained a photo of her father. With a frown, she compared that to the image of Starman. "Why would the staff work for me if it only worked for Starman?" she asked. "There must be a reason! What if Starman was my father? Starman died the exact same night my father vanished!"

"Okay, that would be the coincidence to end all coincidences if Starman was your father, but it's beyond the realm of possibility," he told her.

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"What about fate, Pat? Destiny? Maybe the stars aligned! Stars? Starman! It would make so much sense. My father never showed up that night because he died saving the world!" she gasped.

He asked her for her father's name. When she said "Sam Curtis," he told her Starman's name was Sylvester Pemberton. She insisted that could be an alias, since she could never find any photos of him online. "Starman is not your dad, alright? The staff works for you for some reason. I don't know why, but that's not it," he maintained.

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At that, she whirled around and ran upstairs. When she found her mother, she asked if her father was a superhero. "You want to know the truth about your father?" Barbara replied, anger seeping into her voice. "Your dad, the superhero? He only came to see you once a year, until you were five, and then he just abandoned us, Courtney. There's only been one man who's ever been there for us, and that's Pat. You know, if your dad was as great as you think he is, he would be here right now instead of Pat. But he's not."

Of course, just because Courtney believes this to be true doesn't make it so. Both Pat and Barbara are pretty insistent that this is not the case, and the audience hasn't gotten a good look at Courtney's father on-screen. What's more, she was far too young when he left to remember much about him, where Barbara absolutely would. Additionally, Pat knew Sylvester very well, since they worked together up until Starman's death. There's a good chance one or both of them would have caught on about Slyvester's secret identity or a secret family, so this could simply be a plot device to set Courtney up for an inevitable disappointment that leads her to be grateful for the family she does have.

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On the other hand, Courtney could end up being just as disappointed if Starman is her father. In his brief scene at the start of the pilot, Sylvester wasn't exactly kind to Pat, despite his sidekick's undying loyalty. If anything, he came off as a real jerk. So, two things could be true: he could really be Courtney's father, who simply didn't care much about her long before he died. This truth could be even more devastating than there being no relation between them at all. Viewers will simply have to wait to learn more about Courtney's father and the reason why he disappeared from her life as the series continues.

DC Universe's Stargirl stars Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl) and Luke Wilson as Pat Dugan (S.T.R.I.P.E.). The series airs Monday on DC Universe and Tuesdays on The CW at 8 pm ET/PT.

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