DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has never held back with their stories, whether it’s a journey into a purposefully fictional Camelot or a trip to the White House during the signing of the INF Treaty or an accidental trip to the Cretaceous Period if you can dream it, they can do it. The one thing the Legends were never supposed to ever do was to encounter any of their past selves. But, you know how it goes when you set those kinds of rules on a TV show, you gotta break them for a season finale.
In the season two finale of Legends of Tomorrow, we see the gang go back in time to save their old selves and in the process completely destroy time beyond repair. Hit by a Time Storm after defeating Eobard Thawne, the Legends found themselves stranded in a futuristic earth infested by dinosaurs. We talked with the cast of the show to see what would be next for our favorite ragtag gang of time travelers.
The upcoming season harkens the return of Damien Darkh. Having become one of the primary antagonists of the DC television universe, Darkh had a hand as a villain in the last season as well as the main villain of Arrow, but he’s always had a special connection to Sara. As the one who kills Laurel, Sara spent a lot of the last season struggling to overcome her need for revenge. But it seems like Sara might have finally gotten past her desire to kill Darkh, preferring to like the inevitability of his death gnaw at him instead.
“It kind of surprised me that it was such a big deal for Sara to become captain. Like, ‘What? A woman? She’s leading? It’s so progressive!'” Caity Lotz joked sarcastically. “It just made sense for her to step into this position given her past. To me, it just made sense.” And given the sequence of events that have occurred, Lotz predicts that Sara’s got a lot more work to do. “I think it’s going to have a little bit of a toll on her, but I think the responsibility is kind of good for her to learn that stuff.”
With the official return of Katie Cassidy, there’s a lot more potential for us to see the Lance sisters on screen again. Lotz emphasized her close friendship with Cassidy, saying, “I don’t have any sisters in real life, so Katie’s like the closest thing I have to a sister, and we lived together last season. She’s awesome and I love the chemistry that we have as sister on screen. It feels like there’s a lot there.” But in regards to Black Siren, “I don’t know what it would be like since she’s not my ‘sister’ technically anymore.” Though she added that it could add more to the angst and emotional payoff of the two characters interacting with one another.
With the jump into an unfamiliar time, it seems like Brandon Routh’s Ray Palmer might just have a bit of an upper hand given his past experience with dinosaurs, though Routh reveals that the dinos will be dealt with rather easily at the beginning of the first episode of the season. But it looks like Ray’s skills as a scientist will be resurfacing after taking a bit of a backseat in the last season.
Ray will be facing off directly with Tala Ashe’s Zari Adrianna Tomaz, a ‘hacktivist’ in their future timeline. “I know that we [Zari and Ray] have different views about how technology can help us and different viewpoints about life as well. Character-wise we’re opposite ends of the spectrum.”
And although Ray has been a constant source of positivity, we wondered if there was ever a potential for his character to take a walk on the darker side, and what would cause it. “I think probably loss of a loved one, a cherished team member, would cause him to rethink that. I think he believes there’s some kind of unity or rules to existence, otherwise, we’d fall into chaos,” Routh answered, though he quickly followed with a wry smile, adding, “We’re kind of riding on the razor’s edge with chaos, creating chaos and then helping chaos. So I think his view has opened up and his morality has opened up a little bit.” But it seems like Ray will always be who he is, even if he steps off a little, he’ll go back.
Atom has gotten to do some pretty cool things in his suit, and Routh would be interested to see him go even further than where he’s gone so far, referencing scenes in the comics like going through phone lines or even just riding on Flash’s shoulder or Supergirl’s shoulder.
Dominic Purcell embodies the enigmatic and grizzled Mick Rory. As a criminal and a member of the Flash’s rogue’s gallery, Heatwave originally came as a package deal with Captain Cold, but with the death of Leonard Snart, Rory’s been thrown into the thick of the Legends without his partner-in-crime. “I really love the fact that he’s a very dark guy. He’s damaged goods. He’s had a traumatic life, and he’s met up with a bunch of people that are kind of embracing as one of their own. They’re distrustful of them in the beginning and likewise, and that trust still not 100% solidified. I think Rory is always going to have one foot in and one foot out,” Purcell explained, when talking about Rory’s transformation throughout the past two seasons.
Purcell talked about Rory’s relationships with the other Legends, like how he views Victor Garber’s Martin Stein as a mentor and his sibling connection with Maisie Richardson-Sellers’ Amaya Jiwe. But for him, there will never be another Snart. “I think I like Mick being an outsider, I think I like Mick being the dangerous one who’s not fully on board. As an actor, I make sure I do choices that symbolize that. He’s not Ray Palmer. He’s not Nate. If you look at the rest of the cast, they’re all on board the ship and they’re in it together. The thing that makes Mick interesting to the audience is that he’s different. He’s kind of ambivalent about you all.”
And while Purcell admits to some of the weaknesses of the first season — many critics pointing out its weaknesses at the time — he also compliments the strengths of the current storyline and expresses pride in the completed product.
As one of the biggest sticklers against time anomalies and aberrations, this last season has turned that aspect of Victor Garber’s Martin Stein on its head. With the appearance of his daughter, Lily, played by actress Christina Brucato, whose very existence is a time aberration, Martin has had to go through quite the transformation. And now, with the disruption that they’ve created in time, Garber says that Martin is freaked out, dismayed, and not really sure he wants to continue. “He sort of came in wide-eyed and excited and is now questioning all of it, and that’s what’s interesting for me to play.”
Of course, playing alongside Brucato has been a delight for Garber. “I think that was a great thing. First of all, she’s a sublime actress, I love working with her, and we just actually did a scene together with her this season,” Garber revealed. “It looks like they’re developing that relationship. I’m very happy about that. For me, it’s all about your personal interaction, everything else is gravy and fun for everybody else. But for me, as an actor, if you’re playing to a green screen and a fake dinosaur, it’s not all that interesting.”
One of the big parts of Martin’s development in season two was his test run as a leader in the group, which ended in a disaster. Garber elaborated on the situation and how it’s changed Martin and his outlook. “One of the fun things about his character is that you walk in thinking you know things and you find out you don’t. And I think that’s been great for the character to discover that it’s all about collaboration. It’s all about support. He’s learned a lot of that from Jefferson and from everybody on the show.” Martin’s relationship with much of the crew of the Waverider was deepened in this last season, having gained a newfound respect for Rory and learning to deeply value Jefferson, Garber explains.
And it seems like we really have The Flash‘s Jesse Martin and Tom Cavanaugh to thank for Garber’s participation in the universe, who got him involved in The Flash in the first place, along with Greg Berlanti. And while it’s a privilege to work with everyone, Garber confesses, “I think, I’m a little bit in love with Melissa [Benoist], every time I see her I just, kind of, melt. As a person, she’s just so genuine and I love the little bit of acting I’ve done with her.”
Jax, played by Franz Drameh, has been through a lot the last season, and a lot of it had to do with him branching out on his own as a character. The designated mechanic initially, Jax has taken the position as his own. Drameh calls him the shipwright and the quantum engineer, “He’s really developed in that respect, which has really made him hold his own just solo, apart from being Firestorm. It is really nice to see Jax kind of come into his own. And also his bond with Sara, he’s almost become her go-to guy. When she was shot she made him acting captain.”
And while we talked about the development and effect that Lily has had on Martin, her effect on Jax, while less visible, is also impactful. “The whole introduction of his daughter, that he’s created through an aberration, that’s going to change his mindset. It’s now at a point where they kind of have to decide what do they want from life and [being] Firestorm. Do they want to travel through time and really risk their lives now that you’ve got this daughter that you never knew you had, but want to build this relationship with?”
Amaya Jiwe jumped from the Justice Society last season onto the Waverider after a tragedy befell the society. Since then, she’s found a place among the Legends, and it seems that in the upcoming season we’ll be seeing a new side to Vixen’s powers, Maisie Richardson-Sellers teased. With the damage done to the timeline, Richardson-Sellers talks about a rivalry group that will face off with the Legends called the Time Bureau. We know now that Rip Hunter will be a part of this group and that they’re essentially trying to do the same thing.
Richardson-Sellers also talked a little about Amaya’s development and potential future storylines for Amaya, who has the reputation of being the straight arrow of the group. “She can’t be a saint, can she? I want her to go to Zambesi, it’d be amazing to see some of her culture and [her] relatives. She’s definitely let go of Justice Society, which I think is good for her because it means not fighting being attached.” Richardson-Sellers talked about the benefits of being on the Legends team and her relationships with the other members of the team.
“I think her greatest strength is her unshakable moral compass. She will do absolutely anything that she believes is right, and that means anything. And I think that is incredible, she will sacrifice even her own happiness to do what’s right. That’s an incredible strength to be that focused.” But she added that Amaya’s weakness would be very much in the same vein, adding that she is stubborn and that she needs to relax a bit — being on the team helps.
One of the most interesting relationships to crop up in the last season was Amaya’s relationship with Rory, and we saw her attachment and influence on him grow as the season progressed. “I think what was interesting about the end of last season was that she was the last one to give up on him when he went over to the dark side for a bit,” Richardson-Sellers mused. “She really stuck with him and once you discover that I don’t think you can really go back, so I really think that tenderness will continue, and I really hope that banter will grow and continue.” She also proposed that as Amaya explores her powers more, she might need more help from Rory and their situations could potentially be reversed.
Although Nick Zano couldn’t tell us much about where Nate Heywood would be in this coming season — mostly because of how early in the production process the show was — he did tease that the show was in a good place, starting off. “I think we’re in a sweet pocket right now, where we’re all kind of meshing and clicking and all of our interactions are becoming pure and sincere. We’re getting to that point where the good stuff can happen, and right now we’re set up for the good stuff.”
As a historian, Nate’s primary job was to essentially be the fact checker and the person who knew all the relevant facts. But since time is broken and wonky, Zano mentions that it renders everything he knows useless. “Once we destroy time, Nate only has Steel, because time doesn’t exist anymore. Piecing that together is going to be a lot more difficult,” he noted, adding that he was happy not to have to memorize a bunch of facts anymore for the character. With that, he’ll be taking on more stunts and doing more choreography for the action this season.
Aside from his life as a historian, one of Nate’s main developments of last season was his relationship with his grandfather, Henry Heywood aka Commander Steel of the Justice Society. However, at the mention of pursuing a backstory for Nate in the future, Zano noted that he came up with a whole life for Nate before doing his first scene, “His whole life in my head exists already. To go back and do it would be great, I want to see how close my history, I made for him, and [the creator’s] history for him are.”
Nate began to develop a romance with Amaya last season, and it seems that Zano could reveal that he has shot a fair amount with Maisie Richardson-Sellers so far, but that whatever is to come is up to the creators.
And finally there’s Zari, played by Tala Ashe. Described as an outspoken and strong woman, a hacktivist, from a scary time in 2030, her meeting with the Legends seems to not only bring a big impact but also a new perspective on time travel. “I think she’s trying to convince them they should try to improve history and not just fix history,” Ashe states. In her new world, things have gotten bad, and Ashe
In her new world, things have gotten bad, and Ashe theorizes Zari’s reaction to what happens when the Legends arrive, saying, “When things are really bad, you sometimes wish for a magical thing to come out of the sky and possibly be a change, so I wonder if she would actually be amazed, but also relieved that these people exist and have the ability to change time.” Ashe talks about Zari influencing the Legends and challenging them to think as activists and humanitarians.
As mentioned by Brandon Routh, it’s clear that Ray and Zari will butt heads a little. “He’s kind of a rule follower,” Ashe explains, “and she’s like we have to break the rules because what happens in the future is really scary and worth breaking the rules for.” Although despite their opposition, it looks like that is the perfect breeding ground for developing some potential romance.
And as the first Muslim American superhero on television, Ashe points out that she wants the character to resonate with people and stand as a representation of the diversity of the world. “She’s a part of this ensemble show and so, of course, why wouldn’t she be apart of them and further reflect our world today. I think that’s really exciting and when I think of when I was a kid and I turned on the television, I didn’t see my self on the television, and I think representation matters.”
Legends of Tomorrow season three premieres October 10th, 2017 on The CW and Legends of Tomorrow is out on DVD and blu-ray today, August 15, 2017.
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