Brandon Routh showed up on The Flash: Armageddon, but why did the Atom leave DC’s Legends of Tomorrow?
The Flash season 8 has officially arrived. And with that, comes Armageddon for Central City.
The much-anticipated “five-episode-event” designed to give the show as much of a crossover feeling as possible (in the absence of the annual Arrowverse crossover event) kicked off with the premiere of the eighth season, with Barry Allen’s “worst day” coming to life pretty quickly.
However, as we will see throughout this coming crossover, Barry had help in the form of Ray Palmer, a.k.a., the Atom – who showed up in town to help Team Flash with the initial threat.
Originally appearing on Arrow during its third season, actor Brandon Routh’s quirky superhero was spun-off into ensemble series DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. He remained there for five seasons before leaving the show in the midst of its fifth. But why is Ray no longer a part of the show?
Why did Brandon Routh leave DC’s Legends of Tomorrow?
Brandon Routh departed DC’s Legends of Tomorrow in the middle of season 5 when Ray Palmer married longtime love interest Nora Darhk (portrayed by Routh’s real life wife Courtney Ford). His departure was not down to Routh himself but was actually a creative decision to wrap up both characters’ storylines.
Routh made it clear that he didn’t want to leave the Legends family, but understood that the character’s story was pointed in another direction. Nonetheless, fans weren’t happy about his departure either, with many of them questioning the decision to write out one of the show’s few remaining original characters.
The Flash season 8 returns to The CW next Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Were you happy to see Brandon Routh’s Ray Palmer on The Flash season 8’s premiere? Do you miss seeing him on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow? Let us know in the comments below!