What I Watch on TV: The DC Television Universe, part 3

So, we began with Oliver Queen on Arrow, and that show eventually introduced us to Barry Allen as The Flash. Together, those two shows bring us to the third of the four programs that share the DC Television Universe, one based on heroes of whom I had never heard until this show was born. Once again, I promise to be as spoiler-free as possible, but I can’t promise not to include any spoilers at all.

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

Legends of Tomorrow is about a group of misfit “heroes,” some of whom we met on Arrow and/or The Flash—Ray Palmer/The Atom, Sara Lance/White Canary, Martin Stein and Jefferson Jackson/Firestorm, Leonard Snart/Captain Cold, and Mick Rory/Heat Wave—who join former Time Master Rip Hunter who has gone rogue, traveling through time in search of Vandal Savage, who killed Hunter’s family in the future. Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl and Carter Hall/Hawkman also join the team. As the show progresses, we see more familiar characters from the “Arrowverse”—Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash, Damien Darhk, and Malcolm Merlyn. We also meet Nate Heywood/Steel and briefly meet the Justice Society of America from the WWII era, including Amaya Jiwe/Vixen, who joins the team.

Where Arrow has been a relatively dark look at Oliver Queen’s journey through his adult life and The Flash has been the lighter, more adventure-oriented but still personal story of Barry Allen, Legends of Tomorrow’s journeys through time have proven to be more purely adventure-based. Character development has been more superficial, though that’s not to say that it has necessarily been week or lacking. For this reason, as much as I do like time-travel stories, it is my least favorite of the three. Perhaps that’s why I don’t have a whole lot to say about it here. Who Knows? I do still enjoy watching it, though. It is one-third of the “Arrowverse” after all.

In The Flash we’ve been introduced to parallel Earths, including one where a young woman who goes by the name of Kara Zor-El holds a special place in the hearts of the people of National City. I sometimes find myself wondering if, as the Legends travel through time, they might one day inadvertently do something to bring some or all of those Earth’s together.