Season 1 of DC’s Stargirl left a lot of teases to come in the show’s second sophomore season. According to a recent casting from Deadline Hollywood, the series has found it’s Eclipso and The Shade. The Expanse star, Nick Tarabay, will be playing Eclipso as a series regular. The Affair star, Jonathan Cake, will recur as The Shade. Ysa Penarejo has also been cast in an undisclosed role. Now that the villains have been assembled, what new heroes will be joining the JSA on the TV side of things? Well, it’s as they say so you wish it, so it shall be.
News dropped via Entertainment Weekly, that actor and comedian Jim Gaffigan will be voicing a CGI Thunderbolt for The CW’s second season! A classic member of the Justice Society of America, this extremely powerful genie-like character is a magical, electrical, fun-loving pink imp who hails from the mysterious land of Bahdnesia. According to the show’s official character description:
“The wishes he grants often cause more trouble than the wish-asker would ever expect. But despite his somewhat constant supernatural disasters, the Thunderbolt’s heart is always in the right place, even if it is wounded by the friends he has lost throughout his long existence.”
Comic Book History
Around January 1940, Thunderbolt (Yz) first appeared in Flash Comics #1 and was created by John Wentworth and Stan Aschmeier. Yz is a 5th Dimension Jinn who resided in a pen that was entrusted to Johnny Thunder on his birthday where the Badhnesians would use it to rule the world. This plan was thwarted when Badhnesia was attacked by a neighboring country. When Johnny Thunder started suffering from symptoms of Alzheimer’s, he loses track of a pen in which the Thunderbolt is being stored. The pen eventually ends up in the ownership of a young African American boy named Jakeem Williams, who takes up the name Johnny Jakeem Thunder or Jakeem Thunder.
What This Means
Remember that pen Courtney took from the JSA headquarters and how Pat warned her how dangerous of a weapon it is if unleashed? Well in the show based on the comics, Thunderbolt has been trapped in the pen for 10 years and we’re likely to assume that Johnny Thunder was one of the many casualties in the show opener. From the casting, someone is bound to accidentally click the pen. Will Stargirl introduce audiences to Jakheem Williams? Will Mike Dugan be the new user? Either way, I’m curious and excited to see what Gaffigan brings to this role!
Are you excited about Thunderbolt’s live-action debut? What DC characters are you hoping to see in Stargirl season 2? Let us know in the comments below!
