On 2nd May, Legends of Tomorrow will return to the CW for its sixth season. The Arrowverse show has had a strange trajectory, reinventing its cast and core conceits during its showtime. Originally a somewhat rote show in it's first season about preventing an apocalyptic future, Legends of Tomorrow has evolved into a freewheeling, raunchy, and self-aware series that is closer to Rick and Morty than the other CW DC Comics shows.
Its unpredictability and imaginative time-travel make Legends of Tomorrow engaging, but also hard to follow for outsiders. However, unlike other Arrowverse productions that were cut-off due to COVID-19, this occurred in-between seasons of Legends of Tomorrow, allowing there to be a relatively clean break for Season 6. Therefore, for those wishing to jump aboard the Waverider – or those that need a refresher – here’s what you need to know about the characters and concept of Legends of Tomorrow.
Legends of Tomorrow was originally a show about rejects, with “Time Master” Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) recruiting supporting players from Arrow and The Flash that were “forgotten by history” to prevent the rise of Vandal Savage (Casper Crumb) and the subsequent death of his family, using his time-ship "the Waverider" and its A.I. Program Gideon. Now, most of the initial cast has been replaced, save for Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) the “White Canary.” Sara was introduced in Arrow as the sister of Oliver Queen’s girlfriend (and later Black Canary) Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy). Oliver was having an affair with Sara when his ship capsized, causing him to be stranded on an island and become Green Arrow, and Sara to wind up with the League of Assassins.
Sara subsequently became lovers with the League’s leader Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law), training as a deadly assassin while presumed dead, before making her way back to Star City and her family. During Arrow, Sara struggled with her services to the League, before being killed by a (mind-controlled) Thea Queen (Willa Holland), only to be resurrected via a Lazarus Pit. When Rip recruits Sara after this, she’s struggling with such inner demons, which only intensify after both Laurel and her father Quentin (Paul Blackthorn) die in Arrow. However, by the end of Season 5, Sara has mostly overcome this angst and is the cool, confident captain of the Waverider in a serious relationship with Ava Sharpe (Jes Macallan).
Ava was initially on bad terms with the Legends, being part of the clinical Time Bureau that Rip formed to “monitor time,” which clashed with the Legends’ cavalier attitude. It was also revealed Ava was (unknowingly) a clone Rip took from a future manufacturer and implanted with false memories. Needless to say, this gives Ava an identity crisis, but Sara helps her overcome it, and the two move onto the Waverider together once the Time Bureau is dismantled.
Aside from Sara, the other “original” crew member is Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell), aka Heat Wave. Introduced in The Flash as an arsonist and thief partnered with Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) – having a flamethrower paralleling his freeze-ray – Rip recruits both of them.
At first Mick’s criminal instincts clashed with the team, even leading to him being ousted and brainwashed by the Time Masters in Season 1, although Mick later redeems himself and this period is rarely brought up. Even after Captain Cold dies, Mick remains on the team as a gruff comic relief, including a recurring subplot about how he’s secretly an erotic romance novelist. Season 5 had Mick hook up with his high-school crush during a mission, resulting in him suddenly having a teenage daughter that he’s attempting to care for.
Nate Heywood (Nick Zano) is a historian who discovers the Legends are in trouble in Season 2 and helps rescue them. As a result, Nate becomes a member, although he faces feelings of inferiority given his limited field experience and his grandfather being Commander Steel of the JSA. So, Nate injects himself with a serum that gives him meta-powers of transforming his body into metal (like Colossus from the X-Men). Although, ironically, this leaves Nate one of the few Legends with actual “superpowers.”
Nate had a relationship with Vixen (who left the Legends) and Zari Tomaz (Tale Ashe), who is introduced in Season 3. Zari was a cynical computer-hacker from a dystopian future where “all religions were banned”, her family being detained for being Muslim. Zari and her brother worked with a resistance movement before he was killed, and Zari took his mystical Air Totem to fight back. After joining the Legends, Zari finds her new family there and a romantic one with Nate. However, the Legends alter the timeline in Season 4’s finale, meaning the dystopian never comes to pass, and Zari becomes “replaced” with her (now alive) brother Behrad (Shayan Sobhian) aboard the Waverider (the details of his recruitment were never made clear).
Instead, Zari grew up as a vain and vapid “influencer,” although Behrad did bring her on board the Waverider so she wouldn’t tell their parents about his involvement. Being near Nate, however, caused them to have “echoes” of their alternative timeline together. Plus, the original Zari’s soul exists within the Air Totem.
Later, this Zari possessed her “new” body to operate the Air Totem and was given a duplicate body to coexist with her new self. However, having two simultaneous versions of Zari causes Behrad to collapse since the old Zari only exists because of his death. In order to save him, Zari sacrifices herself and “returns” to the Air Totem. Although the new Zari and Nate have become friends, they do not seem romantically linked, with Zari instead developing feelings for Constantine (Matt Ryan) instead.
John Constantine had his own NBC series (which is debatably canon) before guest-starring on Arrow and appearing in Legends of Tomorrow in Season 3. Despite being in the main cast, the Liverpudlian chain-smoking demonologist grumpily maintains he’s “not a bloody Legend,” only sticking with them since their interests align. For instance, in Season 4 Constantine’s boyfriend Desmond (Christian Keys) was dragged to Hell by the demon Neron, which Constantine hoped to use the Waverider to prevent. Constantine is also accompanied by Gary Green (Adam Teshkman), a dweebish and excitable man, who was once an Agent at the Time Bureau with Ava but has become Constantine’s “apprentice.”
Season 5 was also intertwined with the supernatural machinations of Constantine, as Astra Logue (Olivia Swann) releases several “evil souls” from Hell back onto earth. Constantine was the friend of Astra’s mother, and when she was killed in a car crash, Constantine tried to resurrect her with magic, only for a demon to take Astra to Hell in exchange. Astra’s mother subsequently killed herself over the guilt, and the whole incident haunts Constantine. But after Astra lands in Hell, she is raised by Lachesis (Sarah Strange) and rises through its ranks, vowing revenge against Constantine.
Season 5 was largely a villain-of-the-week format, with Astra sending out the malevolent souls to wreak havoc throughout history as the Legends tracked them down. However, Constantine tries to negotiate with Astra, persuading her he can properly resurrect her mother with the “Loom of Fate.” Astra forms an uneasy alliance with the Legends, accompanying them on missions to retrieve the Loom and becoming softened by their heroism and comradery. It’s revealed Lachesis is one of the Greek Fates, who also desires the Loom to return to full power and eradicate free will from earth. Season 5 ends with Astra joining the Legends, who ultimately destroy the Loom and turn the Fates into mortals, including Legends’ shapeshifter Charlie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), who leaves the team at the end.
Each season of Legends of Tomorrow tends to ripple into the next, with their motto being “we screw things up for the better.” So, for example, Neron’s plans in Season 4 opens up Astra in Hell in Season 5. But while destroying the Loom of Fate may impact Season 6, the main cliff-hanger was that while the Legends drunkenly celebrate defeating the Fates, Sara Lance is abducted by aliens. Legends of Tomorrow has rarely touched on extra-terrestrials, although they’ve done basically everything else. While the exact nature of their missions changes every season, Legends of Tomorrow’s heartfelt comradery and time-jumping hijinks remains a constant, making now a perfect time to jump onboard this show.
Legends of Tomorrow airs on the CW, and past seasons are available on Netflix US.