Legends of Tomorrow will go down in history as one of the most important superhero TV shows

The response to Legends of Tomorrow’s cancellation highlights the everlasting impact of the beloved CW series.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow really redefined the notion of the “little show that could” during its eight years on the air. The DC TV series ran for seven seasons on The CW between 2016 and 2022 before its unjust cancellation earlier this year, and during that time it evolved beyond its original concept so many times that it became one of the most interesting, entertaining, and important shows on television.

While Legends wasn’t the only show to fall as part of the network’s mass cancellation spree, it was the longest-running, and in this day and age it’s practically unheard of for a veteran show to get cut down without so much as a final season to say goodbye – especially on a network like The CW, which once prided itself on respecting its most beloved shows.

And yet every cloud has a silver lining. In the case of Legends of Tomorrow‘s cancellation, it was how the fandom came together to fight for their show, lift each other up and remind everyone about the impact that this series made on the world.

Legends of Tomorrow evolved beyond its concept

When Legends of Tomorrow debuted, many considered it the first (and perhaps only) direct Arrowverse spinoff. While The Flash and Supergirl were both spun out of Arrow‘s success, Legends focused directly on popular characters we met on both Arrow and The Flash, giving some of the best supporting characters in this shared universe a platform for some spotlight of their own.

It played on that concept well, being very meta about the whole thing by having the very plot require a bunch of “B-list superheroes” that history had not remembered so that their absence in the present would not disrupt the timeline. But while the science fiction approach worked well, the notion of time travelling superheroes trying to save the world in a rather serious manner did little to make it stand out in a genre already overflowing with that type of show. Legends of Tomorrow was good (and yours truly enjoyed the first season tremendously) but it could have been better.

So with the second season, that’s exactly what the creative team decided to do, leaning into the aspects that did make Legends different, focusing on the team’s differences, their similarities, and their innate ability to “screw things up for the better”. The result was an over-the-top, hilarious, and downright genius series that shone brighter than anyone ever expected it to. And when paired with the slightly more serious tone of the Arrowverse’s earlier seasons, the result was glorious – the very reason that its second and third seasons remain its best.

What it means to be a Legend

Throughout its run, Legends of Tomorrow continually managed to reinvent itself but it did so while maintaining the heart of the show. Yes, the cast was often repopulated with new sets of characters, but every one of them resonated with fans, be it a DC Comics legend like John Constantine or original show creation like Spooner. And that kept Legends going much longer than many thought it would last.

Legends‘ greatest strength was its ability to make its audience see themselves in its characters, and that made every single one of those characters an important addition to the show. From badass co-captains of the Waverider Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe, to villain-turned-hero Nora Darhk, there was somebody on the show who meant something to someone, and that made Legends mean so much more.

As the show’s intro once said, Legends may not have been about heroes in the traditional sense, it was about the outcasts and misfits of the world, uniting to protect the timeline from any and all threats, and thus, they became heroes to so many people. The CW is a network that prided itself on representation, and that is something we saw a great deal on Legends of Tomorrow with its diverse cast and queer characters. We had a bisexual lead right from the start in Sara, and the show never stopped making its fans feel seen right to its end, introducing TV’s first asexual superhero in Spooner in its final season.

With all of that in mind, it’s no surprise that fans came out in their droves after the show was unjustly cancelled, voicing what the show meant to them and how it made them feel seen. They started the “Save Legends of Tomorrow” campaign, sharing their stories on social media, making the show trend on a daily basis, and even buying billboards in cities across the world to showcase its importance and how it changed their lives. And for a show that originally began as a spinoff about the Arrowverse’s B-list superheroes, that’s an incredible legacy.

Legends of Tomorrow deserved better, and we’re not just saying that as disgruntled fans of a show that got cancelled. We’re saying it as fans who saw themselves represented on-screen for the first time in the most popular and mainstream genre in the world. We’re saying it as fans who fell in love with a show that never shied away from evolving into its true self. And we’re saying it as fans of a show that gave so much to so many people and, at the very least, deserved the chance to bow out on its own terms in return.

The truth is that Legends lasted much longer than many initially expected it to. But is that really surprising for a show that prided itself on defying expectations? It was the outcast, the misfit of the superhero world, and for daring to be different it will forever remain one of the most important parts of it.

If you’re a fan of Legends of Tomorrow, listen to The CW Spiral podcast for news and updates about its future. Subscribe to their YouTube channel here.

What did DC’s Legends of Tomorrow mean to you? Let us know in the comments below!