Legends of Tomorrow Makes Major Change to DC Hero's Backstory

There's a new hero in the Arrowverse, but along with it, comes a big change to the character's backstory. That's ironic, of course, since when we first encountered him, he was doing his best to make sure that the timeline wasn't changed, but it makes a little bit more sense when you consider that the Arrowverse rarely translates DC heroes 1:1, and there's always a few changes along the way. This one, though, is something that fans will likely be a little disappointed by, given that it would tie this brand new character back in to the very oldest days of the Legends.

Here's how The CW first described Donald Faison's character when the casting was announced: "The Legends first encounter this character at a different phase of his career whose golden years are in the rearview mirror. He is good guy deep down; his ego is looking for a boost that only fame, fortune, and glory can provide. While he claims to have been recruited to work for a mysterious time organization, he wasn't offered much of a choice in the matter. As an unauthorized time traveler with high-profile aspirations, he developed a mischievous streak and cuts a few corners along the way to achieving his dreams. He knows all about the Legends of Tomorrow and finds them inspiring because they are the kind of heroes who started at the ground floor, as opposed to inheriting their powers from an alien planet, a spider bite, or wealthy parents. But the big question is whether his respect for the team is going to be able to help the Legends out of hot water or get them into hotter water!"

Spoilers ahead for tonight's episode of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, titled "Knocked Down, Knocked Up."

As many fans have speculated, Faison plays Michael Jon Carter, also known as Booster Gold, in Legends of Tomorrow. Booster is a 25th Century college football star, who gambled away his future and was tossed out of the sport. While working as a night watchman at the Space Museum, Booster decided to steal a number of artifacts from the 20th Century "heroic age," and travel back to in time to become a superhero himself. 

For years, all we really knew about Booster's family was that he had a father who left when he was very young, a mother who passed away shortly after he left for the past, and a twin sister who would later travel back in time to become Booster's sidekick. She died in the line of duty, leaving him effectively alone.

In 2007, following the events of 52, Booster Gold got his own series for the first time in 20 years. Having become something of a punchline among DC fans during the "bwa-ha-ha" years of the Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis Justice League, writers Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz decided to make a key change to Booster for the new series: he would actively cultivate the image of being ineffectual, in order to throw time-traveling villains off his tracks. Why? Because, as it turns out, the Carter family line is absolutely essential to maintaining the integrity of the timeline.

Because Booster Gold, the greatest hero you've never heard of, has a son.

And that son's name -- or the name he goes by in order to protect the Carter family secret -- is Rip Hunter. 20 years after Booster had been introduced, this was obviously never the intent at the time of his creation, but it has become key to most of Booster's stories since.

But it won't carry over to TV.

In DC's Legends of Tomorrow, the team was originally assembled by Rip Hunter, a rogue Time Master who was then hunted by his own organization. When rumors began to circulate that Faison would play Booster Gold, fans immediately questioned whether Faison, who is Black, could be playing the father of Arthur Darvill's very white Rip Hunter. So we put the question to Legends producer Phil Klemmer, and got a one-word answer: "No."

It's hardly surprising that Booster won't be Rip's dad. After all, this version of Rip was killed back in season 3 of Legends, and it would be a shame to learn that Booster was his father, and that the two never got to share any screentime together. That said, it does eliminate a very cool element of Booster's story, and until we get official word on season 8, we have no idea what that will be replaced with yet.

You can catch the season finale of DC's Legends of Tomorrow on The CW's website tomorrow, or buy it on SVOD platforms like iTunes and Vudu.