The CW got into time travel is a bold new way with Legends of Tomorrow, and we've already gotten two seasons of a crew of heroes breaking, tweaking, and attempting to fix time throughout history. Season 2 ended on an insane cliffhanger that revealed a giant mess made by the time shenanigans, and we already knew that Rip Hunter and his crew of Time Bureau associates would try to fix things, even if it meant getting in the Legends' way. In doing so, Rip will evidently come to resemble a certain character from Beverly Hills Cop. Executive producer Marc Guggenheim explained the connection, saying this:
In season 2, he was turned evil. This is not Evil Rip. We're not making Rip a bad guy or that kind of villain, rather this is Rip as... the Ronny Cox in Beverly Hills Cop to our Eddie Murphy. He's the guy who's trying to do things the proper way, follow the rules, get things done with a certain level of efficiency, and here come our Legends of Tomorrow, who go about things a bit more unorthodox.
Rip Hunter will evidently still be an antagonist of sorts in Season 3; this time, however, he won't be an evildoer warped by the Legion of Doom. In his efforts to follow a kind of protocol to fix time, he and his Time Bureau will clash with the efforts of our heroes. Marc Guggenheim's comparison to EW of Rip in Season 3 to Ronny Cox's character Lieutenant Bogomil means that he won't be a bad guy. He'll just try to stop others from stepping in and messing up his cases.
Given how often Rip was known to allow time to be bungled during his time with the Legends, I'm not sure how he'll fare as leader of a new group of time caretakers. I won't be surprised if he finds himself needing the Legends' help pretty quickly in Season 3. They may not be great at preserving timelines themselves, but they don't give up, and they have a variety of powers and abilities that give them an edge. Besides, just because he gave up command of the Waverider to Sara doesn't mean he no longer cares about the safety of the Legends.
Interestingly, there will be another member of the Legends' team in Season 3, and she'll have no reason to harbor any kind of loyalty to Rip. Actress Tala Ashe has signed on to play Zari Adrianna Tomaz, who is a 30th century hacktivist who also happens to have secret powers coming from a mystical and very ancient source. She'll undoubtedly be a game-changer for both the Legends as they try to monitor time and the Time Bureau as they try to keep a handle on everything.
Unfortunately, we still have a while to wait before we see Rip Hunter channel his inner Beverly Hills Cop character and face the Legends. Legends of Tomorrow won't be back with new episodes until Tuesday, October 10 at 9 p.m. ET. For your viewing options before then, our summer TV schedule can set you up. Be sure to check out our breakdown of what we know so far about Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 for a peek ahead.
