After much anticipation for the new DC Universe ensemble series, Legends of Tomorrow, I have to say that I'm more along the side of being satisfied with the premiere more so than being hyped up with adrenaline rushing excitement for what's to come. There's something really special and amazing that's been laid out in front of us here, but I do wonder if the creative minds behind this show has what it takes to fully embrace the brilliance that they've discovered here. Here's my pros and cons regarding the first episode of DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
Pros:
1. A Comic Book Television Dream Come True
Much like the first Avengers film that was released back in 2012, there was this rushing sense of excitement that comic book and comic book movie fans had with seeing these now to be popular comic book characters intertwining with each other on the same screen. The build up of solo films dropping cameos and easter eggs kept viewers constantly teased and focused with their eyes on the prize for what everything could've possibly been leading up to which is what made that superhero team up such an eventful moment for comic book fans.
DC has been joining in on the fun with their television universe starting off with Arrow which acted as sort of the Ironman (if you which character started off first) of the universe. When Barry Allen was introduced in the second season as a simple forensic scientist, no one was expecting the huge success that has been the Flash solo television series afterwards.
Now that we've been introduced to other significant characters in this shared universe spawning from both series, there was always a comment stated about whether or not there was an overdose of characters showing up while taking the spotlight away from the main story of the star heroes. This is where Legends of Tomorrow comes in which the writers found a way to take some of these significant side plot characters and toss them in a big mixing bowl alongside a new story arc for this universe being time travel battles.
We've already seen time travel introduced on The Flash but it seems as tho Legends of Tomorrow is really taking advantage of the idea of exploiting different time periods for the sake of a planet saving mission. With such a massive scaled plot alongside the idea of spawning a crossover/spin-off series within this quickly building comic book television universe, Legends of Tomorrow is shaping up to be one of the greatest ideas that the television brand of DC Comics has created. Let's not forget the fact that they arguably took the coolest heroes/anti-heroes from both shows (in my opinion anyway).
2. An Awesome Ensemble...In Theory
These characters are some of the most entertaining characters to watch in the entire universe with the exception of Hawkman and Hawkgirl who comes across to me as the dull pieces needed for creating the bigger puzzle down the line that we're excited about. Captain Cold and Heat Wave were arguably the most entertaining villains on The Flash from their over the top personalities as a duo of professional thieves.
Captain Cold has an interesting dynamic with the Flash himself as the one villain who actually made a deal to conceal Barry's identity after finding out himself while he is able to run loose to a degree on his safecracking and prowling fun. He also has a neutral-evil type of character trait as he personally takes it upon himself to make sure that no one is killed during his burglarizing mission as he only steals for the challenge. This criminal element in a superhero team equation is a very intriguing sight to see play out.
The A.T.O.M. was one of the greatest characters to come out of the Arrow side of the universe as the CW's version of Ironman in terms of visual similarities. It's always a treat for me to see the Ray Palmer character in action while donning his exosuit of badassery. It also helps that Ray Palmer is played by Brandon Routh who naturally has a likable screen presence as this tech savvy and pretty hilarious (in a way that's not distractive) genius. I can easily see him as sort of the Tony Stark of the team without the douche bag traits inserted in. I already mentioned the Hawk couple as being the dull bunch in the group as I simply do not feel as attached to them as I'd like given their significant roles regarding the villain.
However, I would love to talk about the White Canary/Sara Lance who probably shocked me more than the series' announcement itself. Being a huge fan of the second season of Arrow (which for me was the best season of the show), I was completely in love with the The Canary character as being equally fascinating as far as character arcs go as well as being a badass on her own. When the shock factor scene took place in Season 3 involving her getting shot to dead off of a roof, I was really disappointed with the quality of the series afterwards introducing her sister as the new Canary character. So, you can only imagine my reaction to them announcing this new crossover series that will bring back the Sara Lance character as a new entity on its own called "The White Canary".
Last but not least is Firestorm who is always a pleasure to see regarding the bizarre nature of the character itself. I thought the first version of the character introduced on The Flash was cool from a science-fiction loving perspective but I never found him to be that entertaining to watch as a character (speaking towards the Ronnie Raymond incarnation). With the version introduced in the second season of The Flash introducing Jax Jackson as the new counterpart in the Firestorm matrix with Martin Stein (who is always a delight to see), I've actually been looking forward to seeing him a lot more.
Jax Jackson is an entertaining character to see personality-wise as the young wild card of the group, but he's also pretty interesting as a character on his own as being the rare case of someone who isn't so thrilled with embarking on adventures with his abilities. The fact that he actually needs convincing to throw himself at danger or go along fantastical missions is refreshing to see for me personally.
All of these characters are very unique on their own having something fresh to bring to the table which makes the idea of having them join forces a very fascinating thing to see. One of the greatest things to see in ensemble films is brilliant character match ups and after seeing the bar fight scene with the White Canary, Captain Cold, and Heatwave taking on random thugs at the bar, I can only hope that we get more scenes involving brilliantly conceived character moments. The ATOM and Martin Stein having scientific geek out sessions involving future tech perhaps? Fingers crossed at this point.
Cons:
1. What Was That About Time Masters?
There is so many things to take in with this universe already regarding the new mystical elements of Arrow and the time traveling and multi-dimensional aspects of The Flash. Adding in a planetary scaled time traveling villain threat as well as a group of people who's been protecting our timeline via mysterious ways is a bit much to digest at the moment. Honestly speaking, I was hoping that the first episode of Legends would've been a huge Rip Hunter and the Time Masters episode in the majority of the first half of the episode as a way to fully flesh out this very bizarre (even for this universe) concept. It feels like they completely rushed over introducing Rip Hunter's character as well as these unknown individuals who has the ability to step into any moment in time just so we can get to the teaming up scene.
Because of this premise, you'd imagine that Hunter's story would be significantly spotlighted in the premiere considering that not only is he a new character, but he also brings the central story of the show itself. Instead, the show completely danced over the introduction of the Time Masters who I'm still trying to wrap my head around even though I enjoyed the idea of introducing such a concept to this universe.
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| The Waverider in all of its awesome glory |
There's a line of trust that fans of these shows and characters has had over the years with the writers and producers that I'm hoping the studios do not cross when new outlandish ideas of expansion are considered. Legends of Tomorrow acts as the peaking point of that trust showing what we consider as being too much to follow along with and what is considered as being the perfect next step in the story. So far (keeping in mind that I'm only judging by the first episode), I can honestly say that I'm not fully onboard this new piece of lore introduced.
Rip Hunter himself hasn't fully sold me as an entertaining or interesting character to follow along as of yet, but first episodes normally do not give the full impression of a character so there's really not much to say about him. However, I do like the design of his ship and gun as well as the show's utilization of Gideon which of course draws the connection with the Flash universe. I only hope that we'll be treated to something amazing regarding Hunter's story as well as a proper introduction to the Time Masters.
Overall Thoughts:
As a season premiere, I honestly couldn't say whether or not I really liked or disliked this episode. There's a big heaping pile of lore and plot points being dropped in one episode which makes it a little difficult to process everything even hours after watching the episode. I do love the premise of watching these characters who you'd never expect to be in an ensemble interacting with each other and perhaps even bonding in the future.
However, there is a rushing sense of pace (at least within this first episode) that I'm really nervous about hoping that rest of the show does not follow along with just to get to the spotlighted ensemble action scenes. This is definitely a series that should take its time in fleshing out this new dimension of the Arrow/Flash universe eventually creating an interesting new layer to the different series instead of coming off as a random "what if" scenario with a couple of familiar faces.
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| Not much to say about Vandal Savage here which I found surprising. |
The action scenes (minus the bar scene which was pretty fun to watch) felt a little constrained in scale, but from what I can remember seeing from the various trailers of the show, there will be quite a few epic battles to look forward to. The "villain of the week" character being this new time master bounty hunter looked pretty cool, but I honestly forgot about him minutes after the credits started. I do wonder if we will in fact have multiple enemies for the team to face off against or will it primarily focus on Vandal Savage considering the main storyline presented here.
It would be interesting to see different DC villains showing up in different timelines to offer up a bit of variety for comic book fans to enjoy, but I won't hold anything against the producers for not taking full advantage of the time traveling portion of the series. Overall, I'm curious to see where Legends of Tomorrow go in the future, but I'm not jumping up and down with excitement as I was hoping to be.
Episode Rating: 7/10
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