SPOILER WARNING: This episode contains major spoilers for “Summer School: Chapter Three,” the latest episode of Stargirl.
For a fleeting moment, Mike Dugan got to live out his Justice Society of America ambitions. In “Summer School: Chapter Three,” the latest episode of Stargirl, Mike came into possession of the Thunderbolt, a pink pen that contains an impish, wish-granting creature from another dimension. However, he accidentally sent the Thunderbolt away almost as soon as it came into his possession — and, according to Mike actor Trae Romano, he has learned a very valuable lesson.
Speaking to CBR, Romano broke down Stargirl‘s first ever Mike-centric episode. He explained why director Lea Thompson was crucial to getting Mike’s story just right and how she helped set up his story for the rest of the season. He revealed how his co-star Randy Havens helped him nail those scenes with the Thunderbolt and when he finally heard Jim Gaffigan’s take on the character. He also teased Mike’s mentor-like relationship with Jakeem, the danger Cindy Burman poses to him, what’s on the way for the rest of Season 2 and more.
CBR: This week, Mike really gets to experience the Thunderbolt firsthand, which is a big deviation from the comics. When did you learn about this twist, and how excited were you to get to be a superhero for a little while?
Trae Romano: Honestly, when Geoff [Johns] sent me the script, I had such a great time with it, because it was the first time that you’ve ever really seen Mike in his natural habitat, on his bike route, with his — I don’t even want to say necessarily “friend,” but on his bike route, confronting bullies, things like that. It was really fun to read that episode, because — I always say this — but Mike’s character is continuously pulling back the layers of an onion: you just find out a little bit more about him every episode.
This episode, honestly, in my opinion, it’s a pretty depressing episode, because he gets a little taste of this adrenaline rush of being a superhero for a day, and then it gets taken away from him. But yeah, I love that episode, and it was really the first Mike-centric episode, and I couldn’t have done it without Lea Thompson. The day that I got the script, she reached out to me and she was like, “Hey, if you need anything, call me. Let’s talk over the script. Let’s talk over the character. Let’s talk about how you want to convey Mike, since this is the first Mike-centric episode.” Lea really helped me get through that, and I think we made the episode a gem, really. I think it turned out really well.
But yeah, it was really fun doing that whole episode, because, like I said, that was the first episode where Mike really — you can see him outside of the Dugan-Whitmore house. You can see him on his paper route with bullies, everything like that. It really sets up Mike for the rest of the season, and we had a great time.
As much as Mike wants to be a superhero, he eventually just doesn’t trust himself, which is pretty sad. But yeah, we all had a great time. We got done ahead of schedule. We really had a great time filming that and I got really close with Lea and the crew. There’s so much more to come later on in the season with Mike.
The ending of the episode is just devastating for Mike, when he accidentally sends the Thunberbolt away, but we don’t get to see much of his reaction to that. How do you imagine he coped with that?
I think Mike, as much as he said that he wishes that he didn’t wish the Thunderbolt away, he legitimately just does not trust himself with that power. As disappointed as he is, I think that he knows that he probably made the right decision, because if not, he probably would have screwed up massively in the future.
It’s this kind of bittersweet moment for Mike, because you can see him maturing; he’s not this, “I want to be a superhero at all costs. I don’t care what happens!” He’s like, “No, I actually have responsibility now, and even though it was just a few days, I know that I probably shouldn’t be handling all this responsibility.”
So I think Mike matures an absurd amount, even in that one episode. This one episode really just shows this amazing arc for his character. And, yeah, I mean, I really think that Mike is probably disappointed and saddened, but at the same time, he knows that he made the right decision.
The Thunderbolt is a completely CGI creation. How did Lea Thompson help coach you through that?
Well, I’ve said this so many times before, but Lea, I could have not got through that episode without Lea because she’s such a physical director and she always describes everything so visually. Initially, when we were first starting to do the scene, she was acting it out. She was acting out all of the Thunderbolt’s positions, and it really gave me visually what I had to do.
After the first few takes, I had it completely memorized — the choreography of it, I guess you could say. So literally, I was kind of psyching myself out initially for it. I was like, “I don’t know how we quickly we’re going to get this done, because I don’t want to screw up any of these moves I’m going to have to be doing.” But at the end of the day, we all got through it ahead of schedule, actually.
It was really actually enjoyable and fun, because it was something I’ve never done before. It was something that I know that Anj [Washington] always has to do that type of stuff with her goggles, and things of that nature, but it was my first time ever doing that, my first time ever really in a superhero-centric scene. Lea and I had a great time, and we got through it.
Was it kind of tiring at the end of the day? Yes, definitely. You know, there’s a lot of movement. There’s a lot of physical acting, I guess you could say. Would I do it again? Yeah, I definitely would. Well, I’d probably have to, yes. It’s a long day, when you’re doing that all day, from morning till night, but we got through it and we had a great time.
What did filming those scenes with Thunderbolt look like for you? Did you ever get to meet Jim Gaffigan?
Actually, I had an absurd amount of help from Randy Havens, who actually plays a summer school teacher, because they couldn’t get Jim Gaffigan’s voice clearly at that time. So it was just Randy and I reading lines all day on location, which was hysterical.
Randy really did get me through that episode as well, because his voice is so energetic and magnetic that it really did feel like Jim Gaffigan was there, because I grew up watching Jim Gaffigan’s stand up and his bits on Sunday morning and everything like that. Jim Gaffigan has always been one of my favorite comedians, so I could really envision his energy and his poise while doing that, so I always tried to match his energy while filming.
Randy Havens, like I said, just made that so much easier, but no, unfortunately, I did not get to meet Jim Gaffigan. I think he was supposed to be at the 2.03 table read, but he could not make it. But a few weeks ago, I was doing ADR, actually, and I heard Jim Gaffigan’s voice and it just made the scene 10 times better. He’s just the perfect choice for that role… It just added so much.
It feels like Mike has had a tough time connecting with his father Pat now that he’s got all these JSA ambitions. How does this run in with the Thunderbolt help that relationship to evolve?
It changes the relationship because I think Mike, deep down, as much as he doesn’t want to say it, realizes that Pat is right. You know, that Pat has been right this whole time and it’s only taken one day to screw up monumentally on the thing that I really wish I couldn’t screw up on because this is all I ever wanted.
It’s like Pat has been telling him for so long, that he’s like, “Hey, I’m gonna help you as much as I can, but eventually, you’re just going to be on your own. There’s only so much I can help you with.” And Mike finally realizes that, but I almost think that Mike feels that he’s too far gone to go back and ask for help anymore. It’s something that he feels like he has to now deal with on his own, which is kind of counterintuitive for Pat’s character, but Pat has really helped out Mike as much as he possibly can, and now Mike just wants to be alone in this superhero world.
Yeah, honestly, I think their relationship has evolved, and I think that Pat, in some weird way, almost has more respect for Mike now because he knows how hard he tries. Even though he doesn’t really succeed, or if he screws up, Mike just tries absurdly hard at everything he does. It advances their relationship. It’s almost like this two steps forward, three steps back kind of thing that happens. But yeah, Mike is kind of on his own now, honestly. He’s not really protected by Pat anymore.
As we saw at the end of the episode, Mike’s wish caused the Thunderbolt to end up in the hands of one of his friends. How do the circumstances surrounding Jakeem’s ownership of the Thunderbolt impact their relationship?
At first, it starts off definitely primarily jealousy, but then it evolves into Mike realizes that the Thunderbolt is Jakeem’s legacy, and Mike should just find his own legacy. He realizes that, “Hey, the pink pen is yours now. At this point, I’m just going to help you in any way I can.” Mike almost becomes Jakeem’s kind of mentor for a little bit.
The way that Geoff put it was, “Through all of Season 1, you always see Mike pissing everyone off. Then, in Season 2, Jakeem is really pissing Mike off.” Mike always has to teach him about responsibility and how to deal with the JSA and how much responsibility you’ll have now that you’re a superhero. Their relationship is hysterical and amazing, because Mike is always like, “Don’t touch this! Don’t do this! Don’t do this!” Blah blah blah.
It is a friendship and they kind of bond over being equally as lonely. There’s this one line in the script where Jakeem is like, “It’s not even about the superpowers. It’s more about that I always have someone to talk to now, with Thunderbolt,” which is really kind of sad and sweet. Mike kind of feels the same. So they really bond over their shared loneliness, I guess, and they really become really close over the course of the season.
At the end of the Season 2 premiere, we learned Cindy is gunning for Mike. How worried should we be for him?
You should actually be pretty worried for Mike, because he can’t really defend himself, honestly. But, you know, Meg [DeLacy] and I had a great episode together. We had a great time. It’s not as much that Cindy wants Mike on her team. We kind of figure out very quickly that she’s really just using him for bait, which is really sad and really screwed up.
It’s kind of this dynamic that I’ve always wanted to see. I’ve always loved Meg’s work. I’ve always known of Meg, because early on, before we even knew each other, I knew of Meg and Meg actually knew of me, because our mutual acting coach, acting mentor, one of the most influential people in my life, honestly — David Wells — also used to coach Meg. I always ran into her in class, and I always saw her scenes, and we were kind of acquaintances, I guess. But we’ve always known of each other, and we’ve always seen each other’s work.
It was really fun finally getting to work together, because our characters are really the two most charactery characters in the show. Mike’s character is the comedic relief, most of the time, I guess, and same with Meg’s character. So it was this interesting situation that both of these comedic characters were put into, because it’s kind of a dark situation: Meg really trying to kidnap Mike, and Mike is trying to escape.
So, yeah, we had a great time with that. We had so much fun working off each other, because we just have very similar kind of styles, I guess, in our work. So yeah, it was really fun. We had a great time. I would be worried for Mike, yes.
This season really delves into the difference between bad and evil. How would you define those terms?
In Season 2, the lines are definitely blurred. We all know that because you see these characters — like Richard Swift, the Shade — and he comes in, you don’t really know if he’s trying to help the JSA or not. Also, in the meantime, all this guilt that’s being dealt with by Yolanda and stuff uncovers a lot of stuff about the JSA in the old days and some of the shady things that they’ve done. So it kind of makes you question: are the bad guys really the bad guys, and are the good guys really the good guys? Because both of them have done equally messed up stuff.
So it’s like you really don’t know who to root for anymore. I mean, you’re always rooting for Stargirl and JSA, but it kind of makes you wonder if, like, “Well, is this evil if they’re saying they’re trying to fight really bad evil?” They really do explore that this season, justifying some of these bad things and also exposing some of the bad things that they’ve done.
Yeah, it’s a really interesting concept that, again, makes Stargirl so unique… Other superhero shows, it’s really kind of one-sided: these are the bad guys, and these are the good guys. But Stargirl is really trying to look into what makes the good guys good and what makes the bad guys so bad. Yeah, it’s special. It’s a really cool dynamic for Season 2, and it’s just going to keep getting explored for Season 3.
Stargirl Season 2 airs Tuesdays at 8 pm ET/PT on The CW.
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