For years, the mantra of The Flash — and by extension, the Arrowverse to some extent — has been three simple words: heart, humor, and spectacle. The words have been posted over the door to the writers room for The Flash, and served as the only advice executive producer Greg Berlanti had to offer the next director for The Flash’s feature film adaptation, after Rick Famuyiwa left and the movie was starting again from scratch. Kevin Smith has singled it out as one of the reasons the show works so well, favorably comparing it to some of DC’s film outings, which he have said lack the heart that makes the show work.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Those same three words became a guiding light for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow for a while — but as you might expect from a series that constantly broke its own rules and reinvented itself annually, that philosophy eventually changed. Speaking with Campaign Legends — a social media account dedicated to reviving the cancelled CW series — showrunner Keto Shimizu revealed the three words Legends writers gave themselves to light the path.
“I loved being a part of the show’s evolution. In fact, when we were breaking (earliest stage of writing) the 100th episode, I felt very strongly that we should celebrate how much the show (and Gideon, our avatar for the show) had changed from its inception,” Shimizu said. “When I joined in season 2, the show was in a bit of an identity crisis, and it was exciting to come into it with so many options of where to steer it. Being that my favorite time travel media are Back to the Future and Dr. Who, I knew that infusing more humor into the show – while never sacrificing emotion – was pivotal. Phil is a goofball, and his instincts always leaned that way. So the guiding words on our whiteboards went from “Heart, Humor, Spectacle” to “Subversive, Poignant, Fun.” Eventually we just led with the emotional stories and trying to surprise ourselves with delightful spins on our favorite genres. Anything was possible, and that’s why making the show was such a joy.”
Certainly, subversive and fun are words that constantly come up when describing latter-day Legends. And the poignancy has always been there, tracking the journeys of the broken people who filtered in and out of the Waverider, improving themselves and the world around them during their time on board.
You can see the seventh (and final, at least for now) season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow on Netflix now, or buy it on DVD and Blu-ray later this month.
