The heroes of the DC TV Universe are about to meet their match when villains unite and the Legion of Doom begins to cement their foothold on the fate of the television multiverse!
We knew it was inevitable! Introduced at the start of the second season of The CW hit series DC’s Legends of Tomorrow the villains of our favorite television heroes including Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), Malcolm Meryln (John Barrowman), and the time-traveling Reverse-Flash (Matt Letscher) have decided to pool their efforts and attempt to conquer the world! To enact their dastardly scheme the trio have ventured to locate the Spear of Destiny — a weapon of mystical nature that will grant them the ability to alter reality at whim.
In the DC Comics lore the spear has often played a part in the strategy of some evil force. During WWII Hitler used the Spear of Destiny to exert his control over the metahumans of the era, and was challenged by the Justice Society of America. Similarly on Legends our intrepid band of time travelers find themselves face to face with the JSA in a plot to stop Damien Darhk. At the conclusion of that adventure Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill), the captain of the time-ship the Waverider goes missing and the audience learns soon enough that Rip has taken with him a piece of the spear.
The Legion of Doom is compromised of “Arrow” villains Damien Darhk and Malcolm Merlyn, along with “The Flash” baddie the Reverse-Flash and former “Legend” Captain Cold.
The Legion of Doom of course is a treat for fans has the name nostalgically harkens back to the group of super-villains assembled to take on the DC heroes in the Saturday morning classic cartoon “Challenge of the Super-Friends”. Many of the members of that diabolical assemblage including the primary nemesis of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and other members of the Justice League of America. The roster dramatically expanded over the years, including when the Legion were resuscitated for the more contemporary “Justice League Unlimited”.
Joining forces with Malcolm Meryln, Darhk and his ally Eobard Thawne have begun their own quest to put together the pieces of the spear, and basically have their way with reality. When we the show returned from its mid-season hiatus the appropriately entitled ninth episode “Raiders of the Lost Ark” finally reunited Rip Hunter with his team, but his memory had been erased, perhaps due to his exposure to the spear. Now the Legends are coupled with chasing after the Legion of Doom so eloquently named by the newest member of the team Citizen Steel (Nick Zano).
Legends Creator and Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim revealed to Tiffany Smith on DC All Access that an entire episode will be coming up dedicated to the Legion of Doom who will be the driving the arc into the show’s cliffhanger finale this season. It has also been generally accepted that the one-time Legend Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) who sacrificed himself to save his teammates, but was revealed to have survived in an aberration of the timeline will also be joining the Legion of Doom. Whether the DC TV Legion will appear a thorn in the side of other TV heroes besides the Legends still remains to be seen.
