Legends of Tomorrow

Series overview

In season one, Time Master Rip Hunter goes rogue after the immortal tyrant Vandal Savage conquered Earth and killed his wife and son, in what would be the future. Meanwhile, the organization he swore himself to, turns on him. Intending to save humanity and avenge his family, Rip recruits a team of superheroes and villains, consisting of Ray Palmer / the Atom, Sara Lance / White Canary, Martin Stein and Jefferson "Jax" Jackson / Firestorm, Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl, Carter Hall / Hawkman, Leonard Snart / Captain Cold, and Mick Rory / Heat Wave, who venture through time on a stolen time ship, the Waverider, to stop Savage's rise to power. Meanwhile, the Time Masters send Chronos after Rip for interfering with the timeline and in the season's final episodes it turns out that the Time Masters were working with Savage all along, as his reign will eventually successfully counter an upcoming Thanagarian invasion of Earth. Snart also sacrifices himself to destroy the Time Masters.

In season two, following Snart's sacrifice while defeating the Time Masters, Rip goes missing and Sara takes charge of the team who continue protecting the timeline from aberrations. They are joined by historian Nate Heywood / Citizen Steel, who later gains the ability to turn to steel at will, and Justice Society of America member Amaya Jiwe / Vixen, who joins the Legends to pursue Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash, a speedster and Barry Allen's archenemy. After learning of the Spear of Destiny, an ancient artifact that can rewrite reality, Thawne recruits Damien Darhk, Malcolm Merlyn, as well as a time-displaced Snart, from different points in time to form the Legion of Doom. However, after retrieving the Spear, Sara successfully defeats Thawne and the Legion is returned to their proper times.

In season three, Rip forms the Time Bureau to replace the Time Masters and fires the Legends for causing anachronisms. When Bureau agent Ava Sharpe is captured, Rip is forced to take the Legends out of retirement. Elsewhere, the demonic entity Mallus forms a cult led by Darhk's daughter Nora, pursuing the six totems of Zambesi, two of which are wielded by Amaya and near-future hacktivist Zari Tomaz. The Legends, assisted by speedster Wally West, retrieve all the totems and use them to defeat Mallus.

In season four, after Rip's sacrifice during the fight against Mallus, occult detective John Constantine informs the Legends that Mallus was not the only demon that escaped and that "magical fugitives" are on the loose. John joins the team, along with shapeshifter Charlie and Mona Wu, who is host to a Kaupe, to stop them. Ava and Sara and Ray and Nora begin relationships, and Nora becomes a fairy godmother. The Legends come into conflict with the demon Neron, who was banished by John during a show at Heyworld intended to help humans be less afraid of the magical creatures. In addition, Neron manipulates Time Bureau member Gary Green into working for him. Following Neron's defeat, Zari's timeline changes and she is replaced as a Legend and wielder of the Air Totem by her brother Behrad.

Cast and characters

Caity Lotz as Sara Lance / White Canary:A Star City vigilante and former League of Assassins member suffering from rage issues after being resurrected by the mystical Lazarus Pit. In the second season, Sara becomes the leader of the Legends and captain of the Waverider. The character is partially based on the Black Canary and was introduced on Arrow.

Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer / Atom (seasons 1–5; guest: season 7): A scientist, inventor, businessman and former CEO of Palmer Technologies who developed a power-suit that is now capable of size manipulation. In the fifth season, Ray chooses to leave the Legends to have a normal life with Nora after marrying her. The character was introduced on Arrow.

Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter (seasons 1–2; recurring: season 3; guest: season 7): A roguish time traveler and leader of the team, who hides the strains of being responsible for history itself behind a façade of charm and wit. His goal is to defeat Vandal Savage, his archenemy throughout time, in order to save the world and his family. Aiden Longworth portrays a young Rip Hunter. In the second season, Rip disappears and gives command of the Waverider to the Legends. He later returns, first as a film student in the 1960s who has no recollection of his past life, then as a brainwashed killer working for the Legion and later back to his original self. He remains with the team for a while but departs when he realizes that the Legends no longer need him as their captain. In the third season, he is the founder and leader of the Time Bureau. At the end of season three, Rip sacrifices himself in order for the Legends to escape from the time demon, Mallus.

Victor Garber as Martin Stein / Firestorm (seasons 1–3; guest: season 7): A nuclear physicist focused on transmutation and also half of the superhero Firestorm with Jefferson Jackson. During "Crisis on Earth-X", he sacrifices himself to help the heroes escape Earth-X. Graeme McComb portrays a young Stein in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The character was introduced on The Flash.

Franz Drameh as Jefferson "Jax" Jackson / Firestorm (seasons 1–3; guest: season 7): A former Central City high school athlete whose pro career was derailed by an injury and now works as an auto mechanic. He serves as the other half of the superhero Firestorm with Martin Stein. After Stein dies, Jax decides to leave the Waverider and return to the present as he is no longer a metahuman. The producers decided to create Jax as the other half of Firestorm to have him be someone in his early 20s and different from Ronnie Raymond's Firestorm, bringing comedy and camaraderie with Stein. The character was introduced on The Flash.

Production

Development

In January 2015, co-creator Greg Berlanti stated that there were "very early" preliminary talks for an additional spin-off series centered on Ray Palmer/Atom (Brandon Routh), from Arrow and The Flash. In February 2015, it was reported that a spin-off series, described as a superhero team-up show, was in discussion by The CW for a possible 2015–16 midseason release. Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim, and Sarah Schechter would serve as executive producers. The potential series would be headlined by several recurring characters from both Arrow and The Flash, including Palmer, Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller), and Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber). Caity Lotz was also mentioned to be among the main cast. There would be potential for other Arrow/Flash characters to cross over to the new series, and the series would be casting "three major DC Comics characters who have never appeared in a TV series".

In March 2015, Stephen Amell, who portrays Oliver Queen/Green Arrow on Arrow, confirmed the series would air in the 2015–16 midseason. Additionally, Kreisberg stated more would be revealed about the nature of the series by the end of Arrow's third season, specifically why Lotz is slated to appear, given her previous character, Sara, was killed at the start of Arrow season three. Berlanti also stated there was a particular reason for the other half of Firestorm—Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell), as seen on The Flash—not being mentioned in the initial cast announcement. On the purpose of the series, Berlanti said it was designed to be "most similar to our crossover episodes, where you feel that 'event-iness', but all the time. For us, first and foremost, with all of [our shows], it's about 'how is it its own thing?' Because we don't just want to do it to do it." He also revealed the producers were focusing on "making sure that the villain that we have on [the] show is distinct too... another big character who hasn't been used yet." Also in March, Dominic Purcell was revealed to be reprising his role as Heat Wave in the series (noteworthy, reuniting Purcell with his Prison Break Co-Star Wentworth Miller), and Blake Neely, composer of Arrow and The Flash, would serve as composer. At the end of the month, Arthur Darvill was cast as Rip Hunter, one of the "new to TV" DC characters, while Ciara Renée was cast as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl. In April 2015, in a Variety article on the recent MipTV event, it noted the title for the series would be Legends of Tomorrow, despite it still being unconfirmed by those involved with the series. Also in the month, Franz Drameh was cast as Jax Jackson.

In May 2015, actor Victor Garber said that The CW was impressed with what was shown to them, giving the project a straight-to-series order. The network officially confirmed the order for the series on May 7, 2015, as well as the official title, DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Later in the month, it was confirmed that Lotz would reprise her role as Sara Lance, who would be taking the name White Canary, as well as revealing the antagonist as Vandal Savage. In June 2015, it was announced that Phil Klemmer had been made the series showrunner as well as executive producer; Chris Fedak serves as executive producer and co-showrunner with Klemmer. In July 2015, Klemmer and Guggenheim likened Legends of Tomorrow to an anthology series as "not everybody will be continuing on this journey", with each season being "its own separate movie" but not disconnected from each other in the manner of True Detective or American Horror Story. However, the anthology format was dropped, though the series did go through numerous changes in cast gradually. In August 2015, Casper Crump was cast as Vandal Savage.

Filming

In May 2015, Garber revealed filming would begin in August 2015, for a January 2016 premiere. The series shot a presentation for the network's upfront showcase, which was filmed over the course of one night, and directed by Arrow and The Flash veteran Dermott Downs. Filming of the series began on September 9, 2015, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Director/producer Glen Winter discussed in a January 2016 interview with Comic Book Resources the process of filming key elements of the series' pilot,

The new facet for Legends was that there's no #1 [actor] on the call sheet. There are seven or eight leads. For me, that was the intimidating part. I wasn't as worried about the action and tone as I was with wrangling all these personalities and finding out how they all work together. Or, how to shoot a scene with eight people in the Waverider, day after day. He stated of the series style of shooting on location as opposed to predominantly shooting on a soundstage,

As is typical with any pilot, most of the time you are going to shoot more on location. Because you don't necessarily know if you are going to have a show that's been picked up, they don't want to invest a lot of money in the infrastructure, so you end up shooting more on location. The only set that was built was the Waverider. That being said, because we knew there was a pickup for the show, it wasn't a conventional pilot. All the resources of construction went into the Waverider. That's continuing into the series. I don't think they tend to build much. I think they tend to adapt locations because there's so much time travel and so many eras to create.

Music

Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl composer Blake Neely was also hired for this series. All soundtracks and singles are released by WaterTower Music. The first season soundtrack was released on August 31, 2016, and the second on October 10, 2017. In season 3, tracks from its episode of the "Crisis on Earth-X" event were included in the score soundtrack. DC's Legends of Tomorrow: The Mixtape was released on August 20, 2021, featuring covers and original songs from the series to that point. The soundtracks of the fourth and fifth seasons were released on September 5, 2021, the day of the sixth-season finale. Season six's soundtrack would be released on October 8, 2021. Season seven saw the release of three singles: "Future Favorite" from the episode "Speakeasy Does It" performed by Amy Pemberton and written by secondary composer James Chan, released on November 3, 2021, a polka-inspired cover of Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" performed by Jonathan Walton in the episode "The Fixed Point", and "By Your Side", performed by Shayan Sobhian as Behrad Tarazi in "Too Legit to Quit", both released on March 11, 2022.

Broadcast

Legends of Tomorrow premiered in the United States on January 21, 2016, and the first season consisted of sixteen episodes. The series premiere in Australia was originally announced as January 20, 2016, however it was pushed back until January 22. It started airing in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2016. This show also aired on CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada.

Reception

Critical response

The pilot was well reviewed for its potential. Russ Burlingame from ComicBook.com praised it saying, "The series delivers a sharp, enjoyable pilot that's arguably the most attention-grabbing and entertaining from any of the current crop of superhero shows." Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the first part of the pilot episode a 7.7/10, praising the show's "epic scope", "fun character dynamics", and Arthur Darvill's performance; and gave the second part of the pilot an 8.4/10, saying it "improved in its sophomore episode thanks to great character dynamics and superhero action".

However, review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the complete first season only a 65% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.42/10 based on 36 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "Fancy effects, comic-book nostalgia, and an alluring cast help keep it afloat, but DC's Legends of Tomorrow suffers from an overloaded cast of characters that contribute to a distractingly crowded canvas." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 58 out of 100 based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Rotten Tomatoes gave the second season an 88% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.97/10 based on 10 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "Though the narrative remains too ambitious, DC's Legends of Tomorrow enjoys a freer creative arc with the removal of problem characters."

The third season holds an approval rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 7.95/10 based on 8 reviews. The Website's consensus reads: "DC's Legends of Tomorrow lightens up the tone in its third season while spotlighting adventurous plots and a distinct sense of humor." while IGN gave the season an approval rating of 8.1/10, stating: "When Legends of Tomorrow works, it's easily among the best superhero shows on television (if not shows in general). Unfortunately, while Season 3 reached some impressive highs, it also gave us some of the weakest installments of the series. Season 3 ultimately suffered from its inability to create a conflict worthy of this cast of misfit heroes, and that casts a shadow that will linger when the series returns for Season 4."

In April 2021, The A.V. Club praised the show's transformation to an "amazing metafictional comedy", calling it "one of the most impressive turnarounds in genre TV history."

Arrowverse

In May 2015, Renée made a cameo in the final episode of The Flash's first season, "Fast Enough", and later made appearances in the show's second season in November 2015. In July 2015, Guggenheim revealed that the resurrection of Sara Lance would be launched in the first few episodes of Arrow's fourth season, with the events of the eighth episodes of Arrow and The Flash—which were a crossover event—being used to set up the other characters of Legends of Tomorrow. Franz Drameh was introduced as the new other half of Firestorm in the fourth episode of the second season of The Flash. Crump, Hentschel and James debut in the crossover episodes for the second season of The Flash and the fourth season of Arrow. In November 2016, the cast of Legends of Tomorrow appeared on The Flash and Arrow as part of the "Invasion!" crossover event, which also featured appearances by Melissa Benoist, reprising her role as Kara Danvers / Supergirl from Supergirl. Further crossovers occurred with "Crisis on Earth-X" in 2017, and "Crisis on Infinite Earths" in-between 2019 and 2020.

Christmas special

The series' breakout toy character Beebo, voiced by Benjamin Diskin, starred in his own Christmas special, titled Beebo Saves Christmas, which aired on December 21, 2021. Narrated by Victor Garber, the special sees Diskin reprising his role, alongside Ernie Hudson as Santa Claus, Chris Kattan as a Christmas elf named Sprinkles, Kimiko Glenn as Tweebo, Yvette Nicole Brown as Turbo, and Keith Ferguson as Fleabo.

Cancellation

Ahead of the season seven finale, Shimizu said it was not intended to be the series finale even though an eighth season had not yet been ordered. Despite this, The CW canceled the series on April 29, 2022. Shortly thereafter, fans began campaigning to save the series by renewing it for an eighth and final season to wrap up the series' loose ends. Shimizu held herself responsible for the series ending without proper resolution, explaining that her contract ended with the season but she did not want to reveal anything until the series was renewed for an eighth season; she conceded that she "played chicken with the pickup, and lost", but was hopeful the loose ends could be resolved through other means such as a comic book tie-in, television film, or radio play. The introduction of Booster Gold, played by Donald Faison in the season seven finale, was meant to deter The CW from canceling the series, and Faison would have been a main cast member had an eighth season been ordered. The tie-in comic Earth-Prime: Legends of Tomorrow #3 has a storyline set after the series finale, which Screen Rant writer Matt Morrison believed should give fans of the series some form of closure.

Lesley Goldberg of The Hollywood Reporter noted that although CW chairman Mark Pedowitz wanted the series to continue, Warner Bros. Television did not want to continue paying the leases on the studio space, which were set to expire on May 1, leading to the series' cancellation. Having the series continue on HBO Max or Paramount+ was considered impossible by Goldberg due to the series being part of a deal Warner Bros. signed with Netflix in 2011. With The Flash being the last remaining Arrowverse series at the time, its showrunner Eric Wallace expressed interest in the series' ninth season trying to resolve the loose ends left behind by Legends of Tomorrow, but was uncertain of the viability because the number of episodes for the season had not yet been decided, and he believed incorporating the Legends was difficult to achieve when he had to conclude his own story. Upon his hiring as the co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios in November 2022, James Gunn acknowledged campaigns calling to save the series, but also stated that his focus at the time would not be on revivals. The ninth season of The Flash ultimately did not feature the Legends or close any loose ends as originally intended due to being constrained by the 13-episode limit. Guggenheim stated in May 2026 that the CW, under Pedowitz, wanted to conclude the storyline of Legends of Tomorrow with a film, but the proposal was rejected by Warner Bros.