Legends Of Tomorrow Tidbits – “Pilot: Part 1”

Welcome to the first Legends of Tomorrow Tidbits article.  Each week, I hope to highlight some cool facts, as well as raise some interesting questions for DC’s newest superhero series.  There’s just too much ground to cover and writing character bios that fans can easily google will just be redundant and boring.  I’ll also try and keep things interactive by asking what your thoughts are.  So let’s begin …

Quick Recap of “Pilot: Part 1”

Rip Hunter, Time Master … ahem … former Time Master extraordinaire, has traveled from 2166 to 2016 to recruit eight heroes and villains to stop Vandal Savage, a powerful and evil immortal, from destroying the world.  After the eight agree to go with Rip, their first mission is to visit Aldus Broadwell, a professor who has research Vandal Savage, in 1975.

They find out that Broadwell is actually the son of Kendra and Carter before they were killed and reincarnated.  They try to bring him on board Rip’s ship, but he’s injured and killed by Chronos — a bounty hunter sent by the Time Masters.  We then find out that Rip recruited these eight individuals due to their less-than-zero meaning to the timeline.

The eight now demand answers, and Rip tells them that his determination to kill Vandal Savage is driven by the killing of his family by the immortal.  Depressed and angered that their lives have no meaning, the team makes a new goal — save the world and, in the process, plan their own destiny to become legends.  With this new resolve, the team travels through time to hunt Vandal Savage.

Character Highlights

Being a pilot episode, “Pilot: Part 1” was very evenly balanced among the nine cast members.  Of course, this is still Rip’s story because he’s the one who sets things into motion.  Arthur Darvill plays a very convincing man-on-a-mission role and superbly juggles humor and heroics.  Rip’s rogue attitude in taking the Waverider, without permission, allowed for his character to be seen as dangerous and rogue.

What really clinched it for me was when he told his sad story of seeing his family murdered by Vandal Savage.  I’m hooked on this character, and I’m definitely looking forward to learning more about him.  What did he do before becoming a Time Master?  How did he train to become a Time Master?

The next two characters that I’m immensely interested in are the Prison Break Brothers … um … I mean Leonard Snart (Captain Cold) and Mick Rory (Heat Wave).  Here we have the ultimate character redemption arc.  I know it will totally diverge from the comics, but I’m always up for some great character development.

In the pilot, we already see a glimmer of some type of good within Leonard.  He doesn’t want to admit it, and he hides it by making snarky comments.  Mick is another story.  I’m not saying he’s acting evil, but the guy is totally insane.  I’m already invested in these characters for the rest of Season One.

Easter Eggs and References

• Arthur Darvill, who plays Rip Hunter, has played a time-traveling character before.  Sci-fans will remember him as Rory Williams, the boyfriend of Amy Pond, played by Karen Gillan, in Series Five of Doctor Who.
• The Waverider is actually a DC character and a member of the Linear Men — a group that also counted Rip Hunter as one of its members.
• Chronos, who is seen attacking the Waverider, is a DC character who was originally a villain of The Atom’s.
• The first trip the team makes is to St. Roch.  St. Roch, in the comics, was a city that Hawkman and Hawkgirl made their home.
• Rip Hunter’s son, Jonas, is an obvious reference to Jonas Quantum — a character in new comic book, The Infinite Adventures of Jonas Quantum, created by Legends of Tomorrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim.

Questions

• How did Vandal Savage survive being defeated during the events of Arrow “Legends of Yesterday”?  Did Malcolm Merlyn have a hand in it?  After all, at the end of the episode, Merlyn did come out of the shadows and collect Vandal’s ashes while saying, “You owe me one, buddy.”
• Is this the same Gideon AI that’s seen in The Flash?  Is Gideon multiple AIs like Siri?

Next: Catch up on Legends of Tomorrow with a recap of 'Pilot: Part 1'

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow airs on The CW on Thursdays at 8:00PM EST.