Superheroes in the family are the norm for the Wilson clan. Luke Wilson exclusively revealed to Us Weekly that his nephews, Loki star Owen Wilson’s sons, aren’t exactly impressed that he plays superhero sidekick STRIPE on the CW hit Stargirl.
“Well, so their dad’s in a superhero show too,” Luke, 49, laughed to Us when asked if he’s “the cool uncle” now. “I think it’s getting to be just kind of the regular thing around the house, but it is hilarious because it’s like, we’re eating dinner and they’re asking me about Stargirl. And I say, ‘Well maybe I can get the first two episodes and show you guys.’ They’re like, ‘OK, that’d be great. Dad, can we watch episode five of Loki? We’ve only got two more.’”
On the DC Comics adaptation, Luke plays STRIPE, a former superhero sidekick who comes out of retirement when his stepdaughter, Courtney (Brec Bassinger), is chosen to become a hero called Stargirl. Meanwhile, Marvel Studios cast Owen, 52, as Mobius, a detective determined to find a time-traveling killer, in Loki, which debuted on Disney+ in June.
Not only are the brothers both in superhero projects, but they filmed at the same time in the same city. They shared a house, marking the first time they’d lived together in years. The Texan said he lived with his older brother, his two nephews, Robert, 10, and Finn, 7, and Owen’s dog while filming in Atlanta. The brothers enjoyed bike rides and taking in the southern city’s sights together.
“It was really, really fun,” Luke said of living with Owen again. “It definitely seemed funny that here we are, 25 years later in the business, and he’s working for Marvel and I’m working for DC. We’re working on different projects in Atlanta. We’re living together.”
The Zombieland: Double Tap actor chuckled, “I mean, we hadn’t lived together in a long, long time.”
His nephews, whom Owen shares with exes Jade Duell and Caroline Lindqvist, are “fully immersed in the DC [and] Marvel worlds now, which is pretty funny,” he added. “It must be a funny way to be a kid.”
Even though it’s the norm for them, the little ones still love watching Stargirl. “They’re at the perfect age!” the Royal Tennenbaums star said. “We had so much fun last summer when [season 1] was on, ’cause you know, I spent a lot of time with those guys during the pandemic. They’d run outside, get me and would say, ‘Stargirl! Stargirl’s coming on!’ So it was fun just to have them be enthusiastic about something that I’d worked on.”
As Stargirl heads into season 2, he’s preparing the boys to get scared with the introduction of the villainous Eclipso. The mystical being feeds off humanity’s dark side. Fans will see flashbacks to Eclipso’s life as a child, which Luke teased as being particularly disturbing.
“[My nephews] said, ‘Isn’t there a little boy that’s bad?’ [I said,] ‘Yeah. There actually is. He’s about your age and he’s bad,’” Luke laughed. “And you could tell that that really [shook them]. They had very worried expressions on their faces that someone their age could be a villain, but I think it’s such a great little device and our story by a great little actor.”
It’s not just kids that Eclipso will scare, though. The actor admitted, “It’s an odd feeling to be in a scene with somebody and actually be like, thinking like, ‘Gosh, I’m going to have a nightmare about this character.’”
DC’s Stargirl season 2 premieres on the CW Tuesday, August 10, at 8 p.m. ET.
