After two months of uncertainty, it was announced on Friday that Legends of Tomorrow (and Batwoman) would not be returning for another season, and frankly, it ended the week on a really shitty note — I think The A.V. Club spoke for many of us when they titled their headline for the story, “The bastards canceled Legends Of Tomorrow.” Whether or not Legends ended over ratings, or corporate politics stemming from the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, it was still bitter to see such a wonderfully zany and inclusive show end on a cliffhanger. So, let’s do what the CW will not: give the show a proper goodbye.
1. “Hahaha, This Sucks Man”
Legends season eight had such a promising set-up: the gang had been locked up by a future Time Bureau or proto-Time Master organization, fearless co-captain Sara Lance was pregnant, and Donald freaking Faison had joined the cast as Booster Gold (who was going to have to work hard to earn the Waverider crew’s trust.) It really stinks we’re never going see any of that, or how it would’ve inevitably escalated, and (personally speaking) how early 20th century lovers Gwyn Davies and Alun Thomas were going to adapt to being men out of time.
Now I know it’s possible these loose ends could be resolved on The Flash, which Caity Lotz has directed an upcoming episode of, but after that show’s disappointing crossover event “Armageddon,” I would not be surprised if Sara wound up becoming the only character to guest star on the show, and that all we got was a line indicating everything that was supposed to happen took place offscreen. And while a comic adaptation would be theoretically great, no matter what, it would be very different from what we would’ve got. (An artist is literally not the same person as the cast.)
2. History Repeats Itself
A Deadline story last month indicated Legends was canceled in favor of Naomi, and with all due respect to its fans and creators (especially Ava DuVernay), it hasn’t garnered nearly the kind of following Legends has. I’m reminded of how in 2009, the Fox network allegedly had to choose between renewing Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, or Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and they chose Dollhouse because Whedon was, well, Whedon at the time. It was a mistake then, and a mistake now, and the fact Sarah Connor Chronicles hasn’t received a comic to wrap things up makes it even worse. To be clear, I hate how all of the diverse shows at the CW were made to fight each other for a seat at the table with the more homogenous ones, but imagine how we might feel if Naomi doesn’t run for a third season.
3. The Optics Aren’t Great Either
On that note, Legends concluded without a single straight white male character in its ensemble after Nate Heywood’s departure: it consisted almost entirely of women too, and it literally ended with one cisgender woman (Ava Sharpe) impregnating another (Sara.) I wanted to mention that because, out of context, it seems like this vision of a world where men had become redundant was the last straw for a conservative exec — but that might as well have been what happened, because only a party pooper would say no to any more of this. On what other network show will those who need to see LGBTQ+ families like Sara and Ava’s find them? Or see Iranian actors like Tala Ashe and Shayan Sobhian outside the dour context of a show about terrorism? The answer is: you can’t — another reason it’s such a pity the show’s gone.
4. The Arrowverse is Winding Down
Arrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning, Batwoman and Legends‘ demise means only The Flash and Superman & Lois are left, and even then, only the former has any interest in being part of a shared universe. I’ve no doubt The Flash season nine will be the show’s last, and having struggled to enjoy it since season five (I really feel like I only still watch it because of the parasocial relationship I have with the cast), I can’t imagine its finale will be a better farewell to the universe than the one Legends‘ might’ve been. On a macro level, Warner Bros. Discovery probably wants to minimize the number of DC CW shows because of the allegedly planned sale, so not only are low income teens and families being deprived of this diverse cast, their superhero choices are becoming limited outside a streaming service too; and that’s a damn shame.
Continued below5. Farewell to Such a Wonderful Cast, Show, and Writing Team
When I started covering Legends for Multiversity at the start of its third season, I described it as a guilty pleasure, a mediocre TV show with a good cast and some unexpectedly great moments (“Day-o, day-o! Daylight come and we want go home”). By the end of season three, where Gorilla Grodd hunted “Barry” Obama, John Noble guest starred as himself, and a giant Beebo fought an ancient demon, I instead felt: no, this is pretty damn good television. This show has given me so many great moments, and I’ve often joked I want to know what the writers were smoking, but I have to make it clear, that’s doing them a disservice: they did a stellar job over the years of conceiving the most ridiculous, Silver Age comic book moments, while rarely losing sight of the characters, their relationships, and how the past sucks for anyone who isn’t a straight white man.
The shorter seasons in comparison to other CW shows was a huge advantage, since the writers never had to drag out or contrive drama to pad out episodes, but there was also the cast, who approached the most absurd storylines with absolute sincerity: they effectively became an assembly of modern Leslie Nielsens, whose background in drama led him to become the perfect deadpan comedy actor. They were so versatile too, to the point I took their gifts for granted for far too long: they could portray any variant of their characters, or any other character, and never leave me confused as to who was who.
This show has been such a balm through some globally turbulent years, a weekly ray (Palmer) of sunshine, with simultaneously incredibly stupid and perceptive stories: I’m going to miss watching it, and sharing all my favorite jokes and moments with you in our recaps, very dearly. Here’s to the Legends: they may not have got any respect in the end, but they have our love, and that’s not something every popular TV show can say after they concluded. Now excuse me, while I daydream about how the show would’ve made a great joke about its ending being ultimately as unsatisfying as the one of The Sopranos.
