Get to know The Shade and Eclipso…
As we get closer to the premiere of Stargirl Season 2, we’re beginning to get small glimpses at what is to come, especially on the villain front. We’ve known for a while that Cindy Burman will be back as she was seen at the end of Season 1 looking for Eclipso. Or at least, his diamond. Then, there was the glimpse we got at The Shade who arrived in Blue Valley after the ISA’s defeat. So, where do we go from here?
Well, we’re going to look a little deeper into The Shade and Eclipso from the comics and what we currently know from the mentions we have gotten thus far. So, without any further delay, let’s jump into it! We’ll begin with The Shade.
Richard Swift/The Shade
The first villain we’re going to be focusing on is The Shade.
We’ll be using information about the Prime-Earth version of Richard Swift/The Shade from the DC Fandom site.
Richard Swift was born in the 19th Century and was married to a woman named Elizabeth with whom he had two sons, Sam and John. He was even friends with author Charles Dickens. He became the Shade in 1838 when he was approached by a man who asked him to help find a living lion. Only, the man backstabbed him and attempted to kill him in a ritual killing. However, it backfired and instead of Swift being killed, he ended up with the ability to take on the form of black mist which becomes a part of his power set.
For twenty years after gaining his powers, Swift lived a relatively normal life. That is, until 1854 when a ship Richard was on during a trip to Africa ended up becoming the target of Pirate Vampires. He killed all the adults and attempted to suck out the venom from a small infant girl who had been bitten as if it were a snake bite.
Jumping ahead to the 21st Century and the Shade would end up fighting a new generation of heroes including the Mikaal Tomas version of Starman and Barry Allen’s version of The Flash.
We’re going to stop there as Swift’s history is incredibly long and we’d be here all day. If you want to know more, be sure to visit the Richard Swift/The Shade page we linked above.
The Shade’s Role In Stargirl So Far…
Currently, we don’t know that much about him in Stargirl but there have been some small pieces of information dropped during Season 1. First off, the mural on the wall of the Injustice Society’s headquarters under Blue Valley shows the shadowy figure, depicting his former membership.
Also, Dragon King mentions to Jordan Mahkent aka Icicle that he [Dragon King] would never betray the ISA the way The Shade did. Finally, we see Swift arrive at the ISA’s headquarters where he watches the news and says his former friend’s plan [Project New America] was always folly.
We get a glimpse of the misty villain in the longer trailer for Stargirl Season 2 a couple of times.
Eclipso
We’ll be using information from the Eclipso (New Earth) page on the DC Fandom site.
Eclipso’s real name is Galid and is known as the Prince of Darkness and is the original Spirit of God’s Wrath. He was originally made of flesh and bone and punished the evil. He is driven by anger and vengeance. After being stripped of his power, Galid was replaced by the Spectre.
He became trapped within the heart of darkness which was then shattered into a thousand tiny black diamonds and scattered. It only takes one strike in the right spot can make a diamond split despite it seeming like it indestructible. Over time, Eclipso found a way to operate in his trapped state. The first person he possessed was Bruce Gordon and he [Eclipso] could only appear when there was an eclipse. Only when Starman is killed is the villain defeated.
During his reign of terror, Eclipso killed several members of Infinity Inc including Yolanda Montez and Beth Chapel. Montez’s cousin, Alex swears revenge but is taken over and is later driven to suicide. Superman and Lois Lane also became targets. Shazam [Originally Captain Marvel](Billy Batson) are able to stop Eclipso from totally taking over the Kryptonian’s body.
What We Know Of Eclipso’s Role In Stargirl So Far…
Currently, we do not know that much about Eclipso’s role in Stargirl Season 2. However, we do know that he might have an alliance with Cindy Burman as she finds one of the black diamonds.
Just Eclipso’s presence alone will make the story much darker than last season’s JSA vs. ISA storyline. A lot of the characters will be going through some tough times. Yolanda will be dealing with the aftermath of her slaughtering of Brainwave and the death of her ex-boyfriend, Henry. Not to mention, Cameron will be facing life without his father after he was run over by Mike. Let’s not forget that Isaac will begin to conform to becoming the Fidder after the death of his mother. There’s so much going on with how dark the series is going to be.
A few months ago we got our first look at Eclipso outside of the diamond:
His appearance looks kinda close to his comic book appearance. Ignore what we said in a previous post. How Eclipso is released from the diamond is now the million-dollar question. Not to mention, we’re asking ourselves as to what stunt Cindy could pull to get him out of his prison. Perhaps, he tricks her to free himself. Does he possess her? Will he sense the vulnerability of other people? Will the story eventually introduce Bruce Gordon? Only time will tell.
