With the end of the third season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, the crew of the Waverider, freshly victorious over the time demon Mallus, were approached by occultist John Constantine (Matt Ryan) with a game changing revelation:
They opened a door, and left it open for something worse to come through.
Show co-runner Phil Klemmer confirms that the fourth season will shift gears for the crew. With the death of Captain Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) and the inclusion of the chain-smoking mystic as a series regular, there will be an emphasis on fantasy lore as opposed to time travel. Much like how fellow Arrowverse show The Flash shifted focus from a speedster antagonist this past fifth season, Klemmer wants to expand the threats from human and metahuman threats to something more otherworldly. “[We] want Mallus to be the tip of the iceberg. He is not human and we want to start playing with the idea that Earth hasn’t always belonged to our kind.”
The foundation of the series has always been in the fact that it is a time-traveling saga that strikes the right balance with sci-fi and comic book fans alike. Whether it’s traveling to the Old West to fight alongside Jonah Hex, or even saving a teenage Barack Obama from Gorilla Grodd, the blend of comedy and action works while retaining a foothold in actual historical events. And the inclusion of Wally West aka Kid Flash (Kenyian Lonsdale) as a series regular from The Flash has strengthened the show’s bond to the rest of the Arrowverse. Further, the antagonist has always been a big bad from the other shows, such as Damien Dahrk and Eobard Thawne. In short, the creators have kept the show fun and exciting along the lines of Quantum Leap meets Star Trek meets DC Comics. Altering the formula presents not only new ground but the challenge of holding its audience. For fans of Constantine, this is an unofficial season 2 that petitions failed to secure for his series on NBC, and extra exposure for his animated series as well. His skill set is ideal for the kinds of threats that Klemmer wants to throw at the crew to test their mettle.
“We want to get into the world of fantastic myths and monsters a bit more,“ Klemmer says. “It’s kind of presumptuous for anybody to think they have ownership of this Earth or any part of it. Not to get deep into immigration metaphors, but Mallus is an ancient evil, he doesn’t understand humans and doesn’t understand why we have any claim to controlling this world of ours.”
No pun intended, but time will tell whether the mythological edge will prove an interesting chapter for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
