Why Luke Wilson Joined DC’s ‘Stargirl’ Cast, How He Chooses TV Roles

Luke Wilson officially joins the DC Universe as Pat Dugan next year when his new show, “Stargirl,” premieres, but it seems it was written in the stars all along that this role would be his future.

While chatting with International Business Times about his Colgate Super Bowl commercial earlier this year, the “Legally Blonde” actor also opened up about his newest TV project.

“Stargirl,” led by Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore and the titular superhero, follows a teenaged Stargirl as she teams up with other young heroes — a reimagining of the Justice Society of America — to stop villains, getting help from her step-dad, Wilson’s Pat Dugan, along the way.

Throughout his long acting career, Wilson has filmed many movies, only working on a handful of different TV shows over the years, having very specific reasons for doing each — he “jumped at the chance” to work with Cameron Crowe on “Roadies,” wanted to work on “That ‘70s Show” because he thought those actors were “really funny” and simply wanted to join “Enlightened” because he “just liked Mike White and Laura Dern so much.”

So, what was it about “Stargirl” that told him it was the right next TV show to add to that short list?

“Growing up, for me, the superhero movies were just kind of here and there… and then since I’ve been out in Hollywood this 25-year period, starting with ‘Spider-Man,’ it’s really kind of kicked into gear. [I] just have never wound up working on one but have always been up for it. But [it] just never was something I really pursued,” Wilson told IBT. “And then it was just a matter of meeting with the creator of ‘Stargirl,’ this great guy Geoff Johns, who works for DC Comics, and he told me that he’d written the part for me back when he’d written the original comics for ‘Stargirl,’ and I just liked him so much and really liked the idea.”

Now, 20 years after Johns’ first issue of “Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.,” which features the characters Courtney and Pat, came out in 1999, Wilson is set to bring to life the character that had been written with him in mind all along.

The actor explained that what he loves most about Pat Dugan is that he’s just a “normal guy who’s a mechanic.” He doesn’t have any powers of his own, but he was a sidekick of sorts to Starman in the past and is going to take on that role once again, this time for his step-daughter, Courtney, as she becomes Stargirl. Learning all of the history of this comic book story has been really “fun” for the actor because he knows DC Comics has such passionate fans.

“I went to Comic Con with [‘Idiocracy’ writer and director] Mike Judge in San Diego and once in New York and it blows your mind how there’s this whole really strong and really opinionated group of people [surrounding] all these comic books and superheroes,” the “Zombieland: Double Tap” star said.

All of that excitement is contagious, and, in January, Wilson visited an effects house to look at the 15-foot-tall robot named S.T.R.I.P.E. that his character operates in the show, “[and] I was kidding around with Geoff, saying, ‘I don’t think I could’ve handled this when I was 25 because I’m too excited. I’m excited now at my age about [joining] the world of superheroes.’”

An official premiere date for “Stargirl” — which also stars Amy Smart, Trae Romano, Cameron Gellman, Yvette Monreal, Anjelika Washington, Meg DeLacy, Neil Jackson, Jake Austin Walker, Christopher James Baker, Hunter Sanson and Trae Romano — has not yet been announced, but it’s set to debut in spring 2020 on DC Universe. Episodes will also air on The CW during primetime the night after they debut on the DC streaming service.