Although the Arrow-verse certainly enjoys maintaining a baseline status quo, some characters have evolved dramatically since their respective introductions. One such DC personality is Captain Cold, who has gone from a villain to anti-hero to a full-blown hero, and then back around the bend to a straight villain. Leonard Snart is set to continue evolving as Legends of Tomorrow enters its third season, and executive producer Phil Klemmer recently revealed that it's going to be a new version of the character that won't sit well with the increasingly heroic Heat Wave, saying:
It will be about as polar opposite as the Snart that he's played on our show. We've got a cool pitch to justify that version of him, which I don't want to give away. But it's going to be really traumatic for Mick Rory, because he has deified this version of his dead partner in his head, and in a way, Snart's return is his greatest wish come true; but the fact that he doesn't get the version that he's held in the back of his mind is deeply unsettling. Rory's made a lot of progress as well in the meantime, but he's certainly not ready to call himself a hero.
As far as development and forward momentum go, few stars on the current Legends roster can compare to Mick Rory. Dominic Purcell's Heat Wave has evolved considerably, and his progression as a hero has only become more pronounced with Captain Cold no longer around to guide him. However, this new version of Snart will represent a far cry from the man that Mick Rory knew and respected during their partnership, and the jarring shift will leave the fire-obsessed badass in a vulnerable state.
One of the interesting things to note about Phil Klemmer's comments to DCLegendsTV is the fact that we have already seen multiple versions of the same Snart over the course of the last few years. He has worked as a villain, as a reluctant hero, a righteous hero willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others, and even a somewhat maniacal supervillain during the events of Legends of Tomorrow Season 2. As such, Mick has already seen quite a few different versions of Snart pop up during his stint on the Waverider, so the fact that this "new" Captain Cold is something Mick cannot expect seems to promise an original direction for the show. Given Mick's slow but steady shift towards heroism, it feels like a safe bet to assume that this new Snart may even be a more sadistic and evil version of the DC fan-favorite.
It also makes sense to assume that Snart may become more brutal in nature, because that's a trend that we are seeing in Legends of Tomorrow's villains. Klemmer has already established that many of the villains chosen for Season 3 were decided upon because of their personal connections to the heroes, with badasses like magic-fueled Damien Darhk and Snart becoming more imposing versions of their most recent selves. Snart's return isn't good news for his former teammates -- for their physical AND mental well-being.
Legends of Tomorrow will return for its third season on Tuesday, October 10 at 9:00 p.m. ET (after the Season 4 premiere of The Flash). For those of you on the lookout for more premiere information, make sure to check out our summer TV premiere guide and our fall TV premiere guide to keep yourself in the loop on all of the most important upcoming premiere dates!
