We’ve been asked several times who Courtney Whitmore’s father is in Stargirl so we thought we would look into it.
Since Stargirl debuted, we’ve been asked in our search results who Courtney Whitmore’s father is. We’ve already covered how the series is diving into this, but we thought we’d go a little deeper and explore just who her dad is.
We’re going to be using the limited information that has been given in Stargirl thus far and whatever Intel we’ve found online.
Television Drama: What We Know About Courtney’s Father In Stargirl
The first part of our investigation begins with Stargirl‘s pilot episode entitled ‘Stargirl’. In 2010, a five-year-old Courtney waits for her father but he never shows up to see her on Christmas Eve. This leaves her and her mother to think he abandoned them. At the same time, Pat Dugan rushes to the Justice Society’s headquarters where every member of the group is engaged in combat with the Injustice Society.
Pat is forced to watch as his friend Sylvester Pemberton is killed by Icicle. On his last breath, Starman gives his bestie his cosmic staff and instructs him [Pat] to find his successor. Years later, Dugan is married to Courtney’s mother, Barbara, becoming the teenager’s stepdad. He also has a child of his own, his son, Mike.
After Courtney becomes bonded to the staff, Pat tells her that Sylvester died on Christmas Eve 10 years earlier. Whitmore explains that her father never showed up to see her that night. She shows Dugan a photo of her dad and says his name was Sam Kurtis.
Pat thinks her theory is silly and tells her there is no way Sylvester used the name as an alias hence making it impossible for him to be her father. This leads Courtney to question her mother about who her dad was only to be told that he abandoned them.
Sam Kurtis In The Comics
In the New Earth continuity of DC Comics, Stargirl’s father is Samuel Kurtis, a low-ranking member of the Royal Flush Gang. His alias while in the group is Two of Clubs. He was once married to Barbara Whitmore (later Dugan) and together they had Courtney.
However, an article by ScreenRant mentions something else about Sam that we didn’t know. In the Stars and STRIPE story, Courtney doesn’t meet her father until she’s became Stargirl or the second Star-Spangled Kid. It’s here that her romantised vision of him goes out the window when she realises he’s nothing more than a conman.
Could Stargirl Be Following The Same Path As The Stars and STRIPE Story?
Stargirl is believed to be pretty comic accurate with a few small things changed like who Starman is and so on. So, that begs the question of whether they will introduce Sam as being a part of the Royal Flush Gang.
We can’t say yes or no to that question. Given the clues that we’ve gotten, it doesn’t look like the Royal Flush Gang will appear yet. Though, that doesn’t mean they won’t show up. Given the hints, it might be possible the character was changed to be a hero.
It would give the story a bit of a Descendants vibe where it’s the next generation of heroes and villains. It might explain the reason why the Cosmic Staff lit up for Courtney because it recognised her as Sylvester’s daughter. Again, we’re just spitballing here.
We’re almost four episodes into the first season, and the only reference to Sam Kurtis was in the first episode. In recent viewings, Courtney is referring to Sylvester [as Starman] as her dad and Pat is no longer correcting her. Either the former sidekick has given up trying or it’s just easier to make it less of a mouthful.
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