Legends of Tomorrow: Jonah Hex Spinoff Pitch Endorsed by William Shatner

By Jenna Anderson

There's definitely a lot of curiosity about what the future holds for DC's movies and TV shows, amid the hiring of James Gunn and Peter Safran as the co-CEOs of DC Studios. The move has come amid a year of changes for some established DC projects, including the cancellation of DC's Legends of Tomorrow at The CW. Ever since Legends' cancellation was first announced earlier this year, fans of the series have taken to social media and beyond to campaign for its revival, or for its characters to get some sort of spinoff. One of the latest examples of this is Legends alum Johnathon Schaech, who took to Twitter to pitch a spinoff concerning his version of Jonah Hex — and who caught the attention of some major names.

Schaech's tweet was subsequently shared and endorsed by Star Trek icon William Shatner, whose own tweet was liked by Gunn. This comes just days after Gunn addressed the efforts to revive Legends and to release the "Ayer Cut" of 2016's Suicide Squad, tweeting that "our initial focus is on the story going forward, hammering out the new DCU, & telling the Biggest Story Ever Told across multiple films, television shows, & animated projects."

What would a Jonah Hex spinoff be about?

Schaech, who has appeared on Legends since its first season, has been open about what Jonah Hex stories he wants to see realized onscreen.

"I think Jonah has a lot to say about a lot of things that we're dealing with," Schaech told ComicBook.com in 2018. "He's a very masculine man, but he's been through enough to understand a lot of what goes on inside. So anything in history, like what we're dealing with today with our racism problems. God, the crisis that's going on in Hollywood, he wouldn't know how to deal with that. He wouldn't know how to deal with all of the issues of white supremacists, you know. He was raised by Apache Indians, he could be at the front lines of them taking Indian land. I mean, he could really be in every political situation that we're dealing with in today's culture. I [also] want to see him go back to Sgt. Rock in World War II, that's what I would want."

Why was Legends of Tomorrow cancelled?

According to reports revealed shortly after Legends' cancellation, former The CW president Mark Pedowitz wanted to renew both it and Batwoman for additional seasons, but Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly axed the shows because they "no longer wanted to pay the leases on the studio space, which expired on May 1." This news definitely upset some fans of the series, especially as the Season 7 finale ended on a now-unresolved cliffhanger.

"The cliffhanger isn't the CW's fault. It's mine," Legends showrunner Keto Shimizu wrote on Twitter shortly after the cancellation news broke. "I played chicken with the pickup, and lost. Hopefully the story can continue in another form. TV movie? Comic book? Radio play?"

Would you want to see a Jonah Hex spinoff? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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