Legends of Tomorrow season 1

Production

In early 2015, Greg Berlanti, a co-creator of the Arrowverse, mentioned that very early discussions were happening about another spin-off, this one focused on Ray Palmer, also known as the Atom, a character from both Arrow and The Flash. By February of that year, The CW was reportedly considering a superhero team-up spin-off for a possible midseason debut in the 2015–16 TV season. Berlanti, along with Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim, and Sarah Schechter, were set to executive produce. The show would feature several characters who had already appeared on Arrow and The Flash, including Palmer, Leonard Snart, and Martin Stein. Caity Lotz was also named as part of the main cast. There was room for other characters from those shows to cross over, and the series planned to introduce three major DC Comics characters who had never been seen on television before.

The following month, Stephen Amell, who plays Oliver Queen on Arrow, confirmed the series would air during the 2015–16 midseason. Kreisberg hinted that more details about the show’s premise would come by the end of Arrow’s third season, particularly explaining why Lotz would appear, since her character Sara had been killed off early in that season. Berlanti also noted there was a specific reason why Ronnie Raymond, the other half of Firestorm, was left out of the initial cast announcement. He described the series as aiming to feel like a crossover event every week, with a focus on making it distinct from the other shows. He added that the producers were working to ensure the villain would be a major, previously unused DC character. Also in March, it was revealed that Dominic Purcell would reprise his role as Heat Wave, and Blake Neely, the composer for Arrow and The Flash, would write the music. Near the end of the month, Arthur Darvill was cast as Rip Hunter, and Ciara Renée was cast as Kendra Saunders, also known as Hawkgirl.

In April 2015, a report from Variety, following the MipTV event, referred to the series by the title Legends of Tomorrow, even though those involved had not officially confirmed it. That same month, Franz Drameh was cast as Jefferson Jackson.

Release

The first season of Legends of Tomorrow debuted on The CW in the United States on January 21, 2016, and wrapped up on May 19, 2016. A special preview, "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Their Time Is Now," aired two days earlier on January 19, offering a look at the season's heroes and villains through origin stories, clips, and interviews. In Australia, the premiere was initially set for January 20 but was delayed to January 22. UK viewers got the show starting March 3, 2016. A Blu-ray release followed on August 23, 2016.

Reception

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 the series was met with mixed reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the complete season only a 65% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.42/10 based on 267 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 assigned a score of 58 out of 100 based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews. Reviewing the season as a whole, Jesse Schedeen said it was interesting to see where Legends of Tomorrow ended its first season in relation to where it started, noting that early on the show's plodding pace caused it to lag behind The Flash and Arrow, but the show eventually found its voice and managed to end on a stronger note than either of its sister series. J. C. Macek III of PopMatters said that while not without its flaws, Legends of Tomorrow is just too good to ignore. Writing for Rolling Stone, Alan Sepinwall described the season as dull and boring, feeling that the other seasons of the show greatly improve on it. In a retrospective for ComicBook.com, Marco Vito Oddo felt that Kendra and Conner's arcs were poorly handled and that the series wasted their potential.