The young super-heroine known as Starlight makes her live-action debut on the Amazon Prime Video series based on the cult comic book series from Dynamite Entertainment, The Boys. Starlight may be down to earth and sincere from the heart, that doesn't mean anyone should mess around with her.
Hailing from the Midwest, Annie tried to make a name for herself as the Defender of Des Moines. Plucked out of obscurity, Annie was thrust into the spotlight when auditions suddenly came up for an empty spot within the Seven. Though her dreams finally came true she learned that the cost of fame and fortune comes with a heavy price tag that Annie wasn't expecting.
Updated on February 15th, 2021 by Scoot Allan: Amazon Prime Video's hit adaptation of The Boys comic series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson has continued to impress fans with a unique take on superheroes that explores the real-world consequences and problems that come when a company likes Vought-American has an army of powerful Supes at their disposal. One of those Supes is the newest member of The Seven known as Starlight, who gave viewers a point of view as she found her new place alongside the country's supposed greatest heroes. Annie January's desire to actually be a superhero separates her from her team and defines her role on the series while perfectly showcasing her character, which we'll explore further today.
16 Starlight Is Played by Erin Moriarty, Who Also Appeared In Jessica Jones
Erin Moriarty portrays Annie January/Starlight, who has always dreamed about being a superhero since she was a child and idolized the popular team known as The Seven. What makes Starlight different from the other heroes in the world is that Annie is actually the girl next door with superpowers.
Moriarty previously appeared on Netflix's first season of Jessica Jones in a breakout— albeit short-lived— role and has appeared in movies like 2018's Monster Island and 2016's Captain Fantastic, to name just a few.
15 Annie's Origin Story Was Changed A Bit For The Series
In The Boys comic, Annie blinded her own parents, doctors, and nurses who were present at her birth. Because her parents were now disabled and permanently blind, they could no longer care for an extraordinary child. Annie's parents had to give her up and sold her as property to the corporation, Vought American.
In the Amazon Prime Video series, Annie lives with her mother, who has dreams of her child winning awards at pageant shows. Annie has high aspirations about being a superhero, but she's reluctant to find out if those dreams belong to her or her mother.
14 She Formerly Worked With The Young Americans
While Starlight's connection to her former team hasn't been explored much in the live-action adaptation beyond a few connections with other Supes, Annie January began her crime-fighting career with the superpowered Young Americans.
The team was one of Vought-American's corporate teams that focused on a positive Christian image that appealed to Starlight, though the comics revealed the team was as full of issues as the other teams. After Starlight took a break from the Seven and returned home, she discovered her boyfriend Drummer Boy cheating on her with former teammate Holy Mary.
13 She Replaced Translucent On The Seven
In the comics, The Seven recruited Starlight onto the team following the "retirement" of Lamplighter (he was really zombified and imprisoned within Voght Tower), seemingly fulfilling her childhood dream as she was promoted from the Young Americans.
The TV series changed things a bit as Lamplighter's arc was saved for the second season and Jack from Jupiter wasn't adapted, so the series created Translucent (Alex Hassell) to become the first Supe victim of The Boys, which paved the way for Starlight's addition to The Seven.
12 The Deep Sexually Assaulted Starlight On Her First Day
The most cringe-inducing moment to ever happen in The Boys occurred in the shocking third issue. All the male members in the superhero team, The Seven, ganged up on Starlight and assaulted her.
The shocking scene of sexual assault still took place on the show but the traumatizing events happened between The Deep (Chace Crawford) and Starlight. Though tamer, the scene is meant to mirror the dark side of Hollywood with "casting couches" and the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
11 Homelander And Starlight Don't Trust Each Other
Readers who had been following The Boys knew right away that Homelander is the main antagonist of the show. The pilot took liberties with how Antony Starr should present his evil version of Superman. During her introduction, Starlight meets with Homelander (Starr) during a roundtable discussion where Homelander reveals he wants to help ordinary people in trouble.
However, towards the end of the pilot, Homelander demonstrated his dark side as he burned down a private plane with his heat vision. He later tried to force Starlight to kill Hughie during an encounter with The Boys to prove her loyalty to the team after he learned of her connection to Hughie and became suspicious.
10 Queen Maeve Is A Difficult Ally
In the comics, Queen Maeve is withdrawn from the rest of the Seven and refuses to get close to anyone, even her on-and-off-again lover, Homelander. Maeve shows only a hint of sympathy and compassion towards Starlight. The TV show does a great job of expanding upon their relationship.
After seeing Starlight cry in the women's bathroom, Maeve already knows about the sexual assault because the Deep has done this before; perhaps to her too. Though reluctant at first, Maeve advises Starlight not to let the other male members see her as weak and fragile.
9 She Falls For Wee Hughie
Though Wee Hughie and Starlight meet much later in the comics, their conversation at Central Park happens much sooner in the pilot. Hughie doesn't recognize Annie as Starlight because she isn't wearing her costume. In plain clothes, Annie needed to be far away from the Seven and breaks down crying.
Seeing her in distress, Hughie (Jack Quaid) listens to her troubles and attempts to console her. Because they are strangers at this point, Annie doesn't ask too much about Hughie's job. She doesn't realize he has been trying to infiltrate the Seven with his CIA squad, The Boys.
8 Starlight Has A Fairly Comics-Accurate Costume
Similar to the TV show and comics, Starlight is seen wearing a white bodysuit and a yellow-colored cape. Her gold star appears at the center of her chest. Both the actress and the comic book character have blonde strands of hair. In the comics, Homelander demands that Starlight looks like a man's fantasy girl come to life.
On the TV show, Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue), Vice President of Vought International, convinces Annie to wear an outfit that doesn't cover up so much. For PR purposes, Starlight wears a new costume that removes the sleeves and cape and has a much lower neckline.
7 She Has Powerful Light-Based Abilities
The comics and TV series have found ways to explain how Starlight's powers would work in their world. In order to fuel her superpowers, Annie is able to absorb the electricity about her. As Starlight, Annie has to point her hands in the right direction before firing off intense blasts of energy.
Her attacks of bright light are capable of blinding the attacker, whether it be momentarily or permanently. When Starlight starts to use her powers, her hands and eyes automatically start to glow. Starlight doesn't ever intend on killing her attackers while using her powers.
6 Her Tenuous Relationship With A-Train
Similar to the original source material, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), the speedster on drugs, is responsible for the death of Hughie's girlfriend. In the comics, A-Train is vindictive and dehumanizing towards Starlight whenever he has to share a room with her. A-Train reveals Homelander only chose Starlight to join the team because he needs someone to laugh at.
Starlight used her powers to blind A-Train when he attempted to rape her in the comics. A-Train and Starlight have their own confrontation in the season finale of the first season, which leads to him having a heart attack, though she saves his life. A-Train later saves hers in the second season, making them unfriendly allies when needed.
5 She Developed Other Talents As A Superhero Pageant Queen
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Not only does Starlight have superpowers, but Annie also has other hidden talents that make her truly special. Because Annie has to participate in pageant contests as a young child, that means she had to learn her mic skills and talk to the attending crowd. She can also sing as shown during the second season when Starlight's single becomes a hit.
As a stage performer, Annie knows how to work the crowd, which is why she needed to be front and center at Believe Expo. In the episode, "Good for the Soul," Annie reveals the sexual assault she suffered, shocking the Deep, but she didn't name her assaulter in the televised confession.
3 It's Not About The Money
When it comes to saving the world, the members of the Seven just want the fame and glory of being a superhero. When the cameras look the other way, the Seven abuse their powers however they see fit. Handling their public image, Vought International handles everything about their press, scandals, and public personas.
Vought even picks and chooses which rescue mission they should go on. In the episode, "Cherry," Starlight is finally exhausted from the publicity stunts, breaks protocol, and rescues a woman from two rapists. Starlight proved that she really does want to be a hero to women and children.
2 Starlight Has A Rebellious Side
The shattering of Starlight's fantasies about The Seven and her mistreatment by almost every one of her teammates along with the revelation that Compound-V had been used to create her and the other Supes led to her division from Vought and The Seven.
While it was subtle at first as she began to work secretly with Hughie to gather and leak information, she would eventually join The Boys on a few missions in the second season that would have cost her place on The Seven if Queen Maeve hadn't blackmailed Homelander and got Starlight reinstated.
1 Her Adoration Of Stormfront Quickly Turned Sour
While Starlight doesn't have much interaction with Stormfront in the comics, the character was added to The Seven and gender-swapped for the second season to add another female character to The Seven, though the character's powers and origins were fairly comics-accurate.
Starlight was initially very impressed with Stormfront's attitude and seeming disdain for Vought, though when she discovered Stormfront's true nature and Nazi past, she turned on her new teammate and laid a beating on her alongside Queen Maeve and Kimiki/The Female that wowed viewers.