Aug. 10 (UPI) — Meg DeLacy’s Stargirl villain, Cindy Burman, also known as Shiv, will unleash the powerful Eclipso and try to form her own superpowered team in Season 2 of the DC Comics series, which premieres Tuesday at 8 p.m. EDT on The CW.
“She comes in with a whole new mission on creating her own team and targeting the kids of the ISA adult members,” DeLacy said during an interview with UPI. “She’s on her own for a good majority of the season, and when she comes back, she’s full force using this dark entity to take control.”
The ISA stands for Injustice Society of America, the villainous team that Stargirl, also known as Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger), and her friends helped take down in Season 1. Stargirl leads a new version of the JSA (Justice Society of America) in the series, using the teenage kids of famous heroes.
DeLacy’s Cindy tried in Season 1 to join the ISA, a group to which her father, The Dragon King belonged. Cindy instead killed her father and is taking matters into her own hands after finding the black diamond that houses Eclipso, an ancient entity of manipulation and vengeance, portrayed by Nick Tarabay.
“Eclipso uses hallucinations and visions to control his prey, and she’s right behind him,” DeLacy said.
The actress noted, however, that Eclipso cannot be contained easily and has plans of his own.
“In Cindy’s mind, she wants to be in control of Eclipso. She’s the one who found him and was like, I’m going to use your power to gain power and to create a team to get back at Stargirl and the JSA,” she said.
“Eclipso is a master manipulator. He knows exactly what he’s doing and he’s making it feel like a partnership, but really he has a master plan and Cindy is left in the dark,” DeLacy continued.
Season 2 of Stargirl will also force Cindy and Courtney to have to work together, DeLacy said.
“I think [for] all the characters, you’re going to see them have to work together. You’re going to see Cindy and Courtney have to join forces, in a way, to face some dark, dark issues that were only just teased toward the end of Season 1,” she said.
Cindy and Courtney were nearly friends in Season 1, before they found themselves on opposite ends of the JSA vs. ISA struggle, in Blue Valley, Neb. Courtney tried to get closer to Cindy in Season 1. The characters have more in common than they think, as they both have arduous relationships with their fathers, but ultimately the pair became rivals.
“I think Cindy sees total potential in Courtney being a leader, and I think that’s what intimidates her, but also makes her respect Courtney in a whole other way. And that’s why she’s so set on trying to beat her,” DeLacy said.
The 25-year-old said that Cindy and Courtney complement each other well in Season 2, and that Cindy is a big reason why Courtney will have to come to terms with her own demons. The pair will have to use their powers together to take control of an evil situation in which they find themselves.
Cindy, whose alter ego is Shiv, was given powers after her father experimented on her. She is a highly skilled fighter who can heal her wounds and produce deadly blades from her wrist.
The Dragon King would tell Cindy that the death of her mother was her fault. DeLacy confirmed that fans will get to see more of Cindy’s backstory and what happened to her deceased mother in Season 2.
“You will see how she was when she was a little kid, and how that translates into why she’s so against the world. You’ll see vulnerability and Cindy’s sadness with the reality of not having a mother anymore and the reason why she doesn’t have a mother anymore,” she said.
Stargirl co-stars include Luke Wilson, Yvette Monreal, Anjelika Washington, Trae Romano, Amy Smart and Cameron Gellman.
Famed comic book writer Geoff Johns created the Stargirl television series and created the character in the pages of DC Comics based on his sister, who died when she was 18.
Despite being on The CW where the other DC Comics shows interact and cross over with one another, Stargirl is a standalone series. DeLacy said there isn’t a plan to cross over with other shows.
“But I’m sure Geoff has some ideas,” DeLacy said.