Stargirl Belongs on HBO Max, NOT The CW

News broke last month that the DC series Stargirl will be moving from the DC Universe app to The CW. This makes some sense, as the show is already airing simultaneously on the network during the summer season in place of a lack of new programming. The show's general target audience and cast also fits better on The CW, and it does a much better job with its cast than the Arrowverse does with many of the adult heroes. Unfortunately, this move will be catastrophic for the show's scope and budget. A far better option for Stargirl would have been to place the show on HBO Max, where its original budget could be maintained, if not increased.

While the network's DC comic superheroes series maintain a large fanbase, it's undeniable that the budget and accompanying scope for the CW shows is mediocre at best. In an era with Netflix's Marvel shows, Hulu's Runaways and Amazon Prime's The Boys, the "cheap soap opera" connotation of the Arrowverse is not unwarranted. Many of these aforementioned shows were rather grounded in scope, yet had cinematography and production worthy of the biggest Hollywood blockbuster movie compared to show's like The Flash and Batwoman. Even Freeform's Cloak and Dagger seemed light years more professional than even the Arrowverse's best moments.

The Stargirl series requires a fair bit of CGI to pull off a world of fantasy and sci-fi. For instance, Stargirl's Cosmic Staff requires special effects. The gigantic robot S.T.R.I.P.E. requires this as well, as do villains like Solomon Grundy. The characters already appear somewhat cheesy due to the bad CGI, so switching to The CW where they would have an even lower budget for making these characters seem believable would require either succumbing to worse animation or excising these characters and concepts entirely. The same could be said for any other character like Dr. Fate or the Alan Scott version of Green Lantern, whose powers would require special effects above Playstation 2 level to look even halfway respectable.

While it could be argued that the more PG/PG-13 level of content on Stargirl would be somewhat at odds with the more mature themed shows on HBO Max, the network would definitely be more beneficial to Stargirl's production than The CW. The quality of cinematography, acting,and editing on Stargirl is much closer to a standard streaming service show, including that of former fellow DC Universe series Doom Patrol. It would be able to keep the budget and scope of its first season, though the likely larger financial backing that HBO Max has compared to DC Universe could actually see its funding increase. There's also the fact that Stargirl has film actors like Luke Wilson, who likely would otherwise want nothing to do with a show on The CW. This especially bodes poorly for Sylvester Stallone potentially playing Wildcat.

There's already going to be bevy of other DC content on HBO, including the aforementioned Doom Patrol as well as Harley Quinn, Strange Adventures and Green Lantern. Each of these shows will get the funding and production to tell the stories that they want to, and will likely not be beholden to any rules concerning shared universes or continuity. The same can't be said for Stargirl on The CW, as the show will likely have to be slightly rewired to match the network's typical content and themes. There's also the increased likelihood of it being sucked into a potential upcoming crossover with the Arrowverse and having to rearrange its own story because of it.

While Stargirl's budget, acting, fidelity to the source material and general quality are unquestionably beyond what the Arrowverse as a whole is putting out, the choice of putting it The CW instead of HBO Max is sure to impact its quality.