While beloved character John Constantine departed DC’s Legends of Tomorrow at the end of Season 6, actor Matt Ryan stayed on as the new character, Dr. Gwyn Davies. In this week’s episode, “Deus Ex Latrina”, viewers find out a good bit more about Davies and the reason he has pursued time travel. Now, Ryan is breaking down the revelation about his new character and how his is a story “that needs to be told”.
Warning: spoilers for this week’s episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Deus Ex Latrina” below.
In the episode, Davies ends up having a heartfelt conversation with Zari 1.0 (Tala Ashe) in which he reveals that, during World War I, Davies and another soldier had to deliver a letter to a specific unit. Unfortunately, that soldier was killed and while Davies survived, the unit he was meant to deliver the letter to was also killed. Among the dead was a man named Alun a man, it turns out, was Davies’ love. The pursuit of time travel is Davies’ way of trying to go back and save them, but as time goes on – and Davies struggles to succeed at time travel – he thinks he’s being punished by God instead. For Ryan, Davies’ story is an important one to tell.
“Portraying a person who goes through this huge development and discovery and opening in himself, it’s a story that needs to be told,” Ryan told TVLine in a recent interview.
Ryan went on to explain that Davies will have a long road to self-acceptance and reminds that Davies comes from another time, one in which the social mores were different but even for that, there are elements in Davies’ story that people today deal with as well.
“The interesting dichotomy of him being religious and his love for a man, there’s a huge conflict there that a lot of people go through today,” Ryan said. “And telling that story in the framework of 1925 and aman who’s tightened by the ropes of society is a really interesting way to explore that. I just felt like that’s a really important story to tell, and if we can mine that and get under that, then that’s a really good thing.”
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
What do you think about the big reveal about Dr. Gwyn Davies? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Matt Ryan Breaks Down That Big Gwyn Davies Reveal
