In terms of sheer scope and stakes, Legends of Tomorrow is the Arrow-verse's biggest show. With so many great heroes fighting to protect time itself, it only makes sense for the show to introduce an army of great villains -- such as Kuasa and Damien Darhk, both of whom will show up this season. The process of picking villains for this show is an arduous task, and it's apparently all about choosing villains with profound personal connections to the heroes. Legends of Tomorrow Executive Producer Phil Klemmer sat down with CinemaBlend and other outlets at San Diego Comic-Con and explained:
Well I think the kernel that we're going to begin with is Damien Darhk, and we've come up with a way that he can come into our show. You know he was kind of glib and a lighter version of himself last season. We want to give him some real teeth and a real sort of sinister presence, and then we want to slowly build out his dark alliance and again, it would be great if we could take people and creatures from Flash and Arrow. We saw the Kuasa, characters that have a personal impact on our guys. That Amaya thought she had this destiny to fulfill, this season she'll learn that her destiny wasn't just pure, "I will have a granddaughter who will become Vixen.' The idea is always mixed. And the idea that her lineage will also, that there will be a line of evil through her family. You want bad guys who have enriched our characters' story personally, as opposed to just two-dimensional 'I'm a bad guy who wants to rule the world.' Our show is frothy, and it's always personal.
Legends of Tomorrow seems to have learned from its mistakes as it moves into its third season. Rather than give audiences a fairly one-note bad guy -- such as Season 1's Vandal Savage -- the show is embracing its status as an ensemble-oriented adventure and bringing in villains who have specific connections to the various Legends. By bringing in people like Damien Darhk and Kuasa (who have specific connections to White Canary and Vixen, respectively) it pays off storylines that the Arrow-verse has already built up elsewhere.
Of course, the beauty of a show like Legends of Tomorrow is the way in which it can provide fans new incarnations of classic villains because of changes made in the timeline. With bad guys like Damien Darhk, Kuasa, and Captain Cold (who has also been confirmed to return this year), Legends can continuously tinker and reinvent the wheel with these villains that we have come to know and love over the course of the last two years. Season 3 will be chock full of familiar faces, but Legends of Tomorrow's story is about to go in a very different direction.
Legends of Tomorrow premieres this fall on October 10 at 9 p.m. EST (right after The Flash's Season 4 premiere) on The CW. Before then, make sure to take a glance at our summer TV premiere guide for more details on the rest of this season's most highly anticipated television debuts and fill out your TV-watching calendars accordingly!
