When Agent Justin mentioned something about a new DC CW trailer and the Atom, I could pretty much only groan and wonder what on earth they’ve possibly done now to bastardize the reputations and identities of these poor timeless comic book heroes.
The new trailer is for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (yes, the “DC’s” bit is actually a part of the official title) which dropped today. We’ve heard rumors and rumblings about this, but never quite nailed down what it would be or who we’d be seeing in it.
Let’s step through the trailer, shall we? Here it is so you don’t have to look it up. I’m so nice.
The first few seconds are of our friend Green Arrow (or just Arrow, as he’s referred to here in DC’s TV universe) doing various dramatic and action-y things, like putting on his hood and running around with his team. And then we have Barry Allen from the Flash with a quick flashback of how he got injured and gained his super-speed. I think we’re supposed to say “oh, first we had the Arrow tv show, and then we had the Flash tv show that spun off from it.” Then there’s a shot of Barry and Oliver shaking hands, agreeing to be partners.
Which is where DC’s Legends of Tomorrow comes in. Barry explains that a team is needed because two masked vigilantes simply isn’t enough (in fewer words.) We see a team of people, some familiar and some not so familiar, and then we are introduced to them one by one.
HAWKGIRL is new to CW, not having been on any shows yet (I think. I’m a little behind on Arrow but I believe this is Hawkgirl’s first CW appearance.)
WHITE CANARY is—are you fucking kidding me?! It’s Sara from Arrow (the one that died? Twice?!?) Now that Arrow’s brought the Lazarus Pit into play apparently everyone just comes back to life. But that’s probably a tangent for another post…
CAPTAIN COLD and HEATWAVE, who are currently villains on the Flash. Oookay.
THE ATOM, our friend Ray Palmer from the Arrow. Who is clearly DC’s answer to Iron Man’s wild popularity from the Marvel movies. But look at me, stating the obvious again.
FIRESTORM, a minor character (characters?) from The Flash. Two dudes who got merged and then unmerged and– you know what, it’s complicated.
Oliver explains that this team’s enemy is Vandal Savage. So it seems like…Oliver and Barry put this team together and are like running it? But it doesn’t seem like they’re going to be on the show? I get what they’re trying to do here with this promo, but it just feels a little weird. Anywhoo, Oliver explains that Vandal Savage is, like, super evil and has a big-ass army that needs to be stopped. How does he know?
Rory from Doctor Who Rip Hunter suddenly steps in. Evidently he’s a Time Lord “Timemaster” All I can think of is “Hey this guy looks and sounds familia—OH WAIT THAT’S RORY FROM DOCTOR WHO.” Yes, sniveling Rory the traveling companion (I am not exactly fond of him.) Playing a trench-coat wearing, time travelling hero. How original, this casting.
Rip explains that the team is going to have to time travel to fight off evil, and there is a sequence of them actioning as hard as they can action. The Flash is in some of the scenes actioning along with the team, so maybe he’s a part of the group too. I guess Arrow is too good for this stuff. Captain Cold (rightly) states his skepticism about being a hero, and Rory insists that the group members are all LEGENDS in the future. There are some more action scenes.
The final bit of the trailer shows the Atom actually shrinking, which he’s never actually done before in his past appearances. That’s really all I have to say about it, other than his helmet looks kinda derpy and the effects used to show the tiny Atom walking look a little jerky and stilted.
Other thoughts: The costumes seem to be very simple. Does that mean this is a low-budget series? I mean, White Canary doesn’t even have a mask. Not to mention she’s a dead chick who died several times and is probably going to give someone a heart attack if she goes around maskless (like her dear old dad.) Although if she’s travelling through time it might not matter. Sigh. Why does this sound like a recipe for disaster?
Hawkgirl interests me. I always wondered what’d happen if CW decided to bring around a Hawkgirl in one of their series. The other characters leave me conflicted, though. Captain Cold is a great nemesis for the Flash, so I guess I’d be confused if they decided to change that chemistry. Captain Cold would not be very interesting if he became a good guy, I think. I like Ray Palmer and what has been done with him, despite the fact that his hero is basically Iron Man, but I feel like he’s too good for this show. He could probably carry his own show just fine, honestly. Unless he will carry this show? We’ll see. Firestorm…do we need to hash those guys out again? We spent what feels like a fair amount of time with them in The Flash (for minor characters, anyway.) I guess I just don’t see them contributing a lot of interesting stuff here.
Verdict: Ughhhhhhhhhhh. I’ll probably watch it.