Legends of Tomorrow

Did You Know?

• The series aired on CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada.
• Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season a 65% approval rating based on 36 reviews.
• The pilot was praised by ComicBook.com as "the most attention-grabbing and entertaining from any of the current crop of superhero shows."

Series overview

In season one, Time Master Rip Hunter goes rogue after the immortal tyrant Vandal Savage conquers Earth and kills his wife and son in the future. Rip recruits a team of superheroes and villains—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—to travel through time on the stolen ship Waverider and stop Savage's rise. The Time Masters send Chronos after Rip, and it is later revealed they were working with Savage to counter an upcoming Thanagarian invasion. Snart sacrifices himself to destroy the Time Masters. In season two, Rip goes missing and Sara takes charge. The team, joined by Nate Heywood / Citizen Steel and Amaya Jiwe / Vixen, pursues Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash, who forms the Legion of Doom with Damien Darhk, Malcolm Merlyn, and a time-displaced Snart to obtain the Spear of Destiny. Sara defeats Thawne and the Legion is returned to their proper times. In season three, Rip forms the Time Bureau and fires the Legends, but is forced to bring them back when Bureau agent Ava Sharpe is captured. The demonic entity Mallus, aided by Nora Darhk, seeks the six totems of Zambesi. The Legends, with speedster Wally West, retrieve the totems and defeat Mallus.

Cast and characters

Caity Lotz portrays Sara Lance / White Canary, a Star City vigilante and former League of Assassins member resurrected by the Lazarus Pit, who becomes the Legends' leader and captain of the Waverider in season two. Brandon Routh plays Ray Palmer / Atom, a scientist and inventor who develops a size-manipulating power-suit; he leaves the Legends in season five to marry Nora. Arthur Darvill appears as Rip Hunter, a roguish time traveler who leads the team in season one, later disappears, returns as a brainwashed killer, and eventually sacrifices himself to Mallus at the end of season three. Victor Garber portrays Martin Stein / Firestorm, a nuclear physicist who is half of the superhero Firestorm with Jefferson Jackson; he sacrifices himself during "Crisis on Earth-X".

Production

In January 2015, Greg Berlanti stated there were preliminary talks for a spin-off centered on Ray Palmer / Atom. By February 2015, a superhero team-up series was in discussion for a possible 2015–16 midseason release, with Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim, and Sarah Schechter as executive producers. The series would feature recurring characters from Arrow and The Flash, including Palmer, Leonard Snart, and Martin Stein, with Caity Lotz also mentioned. In March 2015, Stephen Amell confirmed the series would air in the 2015–16 midseason. Kreisberg noted more would be revealed about Sara Lance's resurrection. Dominic Purcell was revealed to reprise his role as Heat Wave, reuniting with Prison Break co-star Wentworth Miller. Blake Neely was set as composer. Arthur Darvill was cast as Rip Hunter, and Ciara Renée as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl. In April 2015, a Variety article noted the title Legends of Tomorrow, though unconfirmed by those involved.

Cancellation

Ahead of the season seven finale, showrunner Keto Shimizu said it was not intended as a series finale, though an eighth season had not been ordered. The CW canceled the series on April 29, 2022. Fans campaigned for an eighth season to wrap up loose ends. Shimizu held herself responsible, explaining her contract ended with the season and she "played chicken with the pickup, and lost". The introduction of Booster Gold, played by Donald Faison in the season seven finale, was meant to deter cancellation; Faison would have been a main cast member in an eighth season. The tie-in comic Earth-Prime: Legends of Tomorrow #3 has a storyline set after the series finale. 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 leases on studio space expiring May 1. Continuing on HBO Max or Paramount+ was considered impossible due to a 2011 Netflix deal. The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace expressed interest in resolving loose ends in its ninth season but was uncertain due to episode constraints; the ninth season ultimately did not feature the Legends.