DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has become one of the most consistently entertaining comic book shows on TV — and given how crowded that niche is getting, that’s saying something.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The series, which started as a home for wayward Arrow and The Flash characters, has come into its own not only tonally — it feels completely different from any of the other Arrowverse shows — but also in terms of content. The time travel here is radically different from the way it is depicted on The Flash, for instance, and the introduction of magic, as well as a half-dozen entirely original characters not from one of the satellite shows, has given this Timeship of Misfit Toys its own distinct flavor.
In so doing, producers Marc Guggenheim and Phil Klemmer, along with a talented group of writers and a great cast, have taken what used to be the ugly stepchild of the Arrowverse and transformed it into something beloved by fans and critics.
So, of course, now that the show has found its groove, it’s time to reinvent the wheel again.
“We’re certainly doing something that would be on par with the seismic upheavals of previous seasons, for sure,” Klemmer told ComicBook.com this week. “Which is really a dumb thing for us to do when we have a show that everybody likes and agrees has found its niche: ‘Let’s totally mix it up!’ I certainly think it makes it more interesting for us as writers, and I think it makes things more fun for our cast as well. The conceit will change and the makeup of Legends will change.”
So, what do we hope to see coming up next season? Let’s take a look at a few ideas…!
The Rising Darkness
Legends of Tomorrow is not John Constantine’s show, but that does not mean when you add a fan-favorite character who has his own baggage, that baggage should not be dealt with or address in some way.
The “Rising Darkness,” an increase in dark mystical energies that dominated the plot of Constantine’s first season and culminated with the angel he had been fighting alongside revealed as an archangel working for the Devil, always felt like something that could gel fairly easily with the rise of Damien Darhk and then the Totems.
There are elements of John Constantine’s solo series that popped up in various other places — he has frequently referenced the Newcastle Incident, which is the inciting incident for his supernatural career as seen in the comics, and his old pal Chas popped up (in a radically different form) in the Constantine animated series that debuted recently on CW Seed.
This could be the kind of thing that could range from a half-season story to a single episode to even just a brief explanation of how it all played out while the audience was away, but certainly now that Matt Ryan’s Constantine is a regular somewhere, fans of his old series would love to know whatever happened to the crazy cliffhanger that they were left with.
A lineup shakeup
There are a few characters whose arcs this season seem to have been building to an exit, and while there is not anybody currently appearing regularly on Legends of Tomorrow that we wouldn’t miss when they were gone…well, it feels like the time is right for some changes.
As noted above, Klemmer told ComicBook.com that both the concept and the lineup would see some changes following Monday’s finale, but in what way?
The series was originally pitched as having a lineup that is somewhat more fluid than your traditional superhero TV show. Anything can happen, Klemmer said back when the series launched, and characters who die will stay dead (technically true, although time-travel and a multiverse still lets fans visit with them occasionally).
During an interview earlier this season, Klemmer told ComicBook.com that they had gotten away from that philosophy, but that fans shouldn’t expect it to carry over through the season.
Of the characters currently appearing on Legends of Tomorrow, it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine Mick Rory, Nate, and Amaya leaving with their arcs feeling some semblance of closure. Other characters would certainly feel more abrupt, but not every story gets closure, outside of maybe a heroic death.
AvaLance
How does having someone in her life impact Sara?
This is a fundamental question that the show will have to wrestle with as Ava Sharpe gets upgraded to series regular and, presumably, reunites as a couple with Sara Lance (they have been kind of officially unofficial ever since their brief breakup, it seems).
Sara is a person who literally survived by cutting herself off from others for years. Now that she is on board the Waverider, that has become increasingly impossible and she has had to adjust her mindset. It has been a slow process, but a fun one to watch.
Now, she has a love interest for the first time since drifting apart from Nyssa after her resurrection, and having a person who cares about her without strings and without needing to constantly rely on her for survival. That is bound to change her mindset, and it will be interesting to see how the writers tackle it.
Meanwhile, Ava not only has her own issues to grapple with (a clone from the future?) but also will need to be fleshed out a bit more, as prior to the start of her romance with Sara just a few weeks ago, she was a fairly flat character, there to serve her role with the Time Bureau but not nearly as colorful as the rest of the world around the Legends.
That changed fast, but there is certainly still room for growth, and it’s going to be fun watching how that growth happens.
A new villain
We are torn: after Arrow season 4, we basically felt like Neal McDonough’s Damien Darhk had outstayed his welcome, and that he was a potential liability as part of the Legion of Doom.
McDonough, though, has utterly redeemed the character, making him one of the most interesting, relatable villains in all of The CW’s DC shows. Along the way, though, he has appeared in almost every episode of the last season and a half of Legends.
No matter how compelling your villain is, you don’t want to stick with the same one — or even the same concept — for too long. The Flash and Supergirl each went with essentially minor variations on the same villainous themes in their first three seasons, and the end result was that by season three a lot of the air had gone out of the sails and other characters had to pick up the slack and provide drama when the villains seemingly lacked it.
More Jonah Hex
Typically we have stayed kind of general here, but if there is one character we would like to see more of, it’s got to be Jonah Hex.
A standout during his guest appearance in the show’s first season, Hex implied that he had a long, complicated relationship with Rip Hunter and was one of the very first people the Legends met who was unsurprised by the existence of time travel.
It lends to his unflappable manner, so it really doesn’t need to be explored, but just because something is not “needed,” per se, doesn’t mean you can’t want it.
Beebo
Ever since he first appeared in the midseason finale, titled “Beebo the God of War,” the cute and cuddly stuffed animal has delighted the Legends fandom.
Meanwhile, he has appeared here and there throughout the rest of the season, almost as a totem of the fact that the writers knew what they had on their hands with the midseason finale and continued to write little cameos for him even before they had a chance to hear what the fans actually had to say.
So…yeah. We want more Beebo. We have no idea how often you can go back to this well without it becoming a whole thing that’s not actually worth revisiting, but we are willing to see how thinly it can be stretched and still be fun.
Maybe just have one in John Constantine’s apartment, since he said in a previous appearance that he had enchanted one to talk a while back?
