This article contains spoilers for the Legends of Tomorrow season seven finale.
A character that fans have been waiting for since Legends of Tomorrow began finally made his introduction in the season seven finale. The latest run of the time-traveling DC TV series wrapped up this Wednesday, with Scrubs star Donald Faison joining the cast. Ever since he was announced to be onboard Legends, fans had a sneaking suspicion who Faison might be playing; those theories turned out to be bang on the money. Find out his surprising role after the jump.
Yes, Faison made his Arrowverse debut in the finale as Booster Gold, the popular superhero from the comics who’s long seemed like the perfect fit for the Legends-verse. Unfortunately, he’s always been off-limits to The CW, owing to a Booster-centered movie percolating in development at Warner Brothers. So how did his belated arrival come about? Co-showrunner Phil Klemmer admitted to Entertainment Weekly that it kind of happened by accident.
Klemmer recalled that Booster’s name was jokingly mentioned during a call with DC execs, and the Legends team were blown away when they got the go-ahead to put him in the show.
“I just remember [co-showrunner Keto Shimizu] and I were on a call with Kim Roberto at DC, and we were just talking about fun characters. I think somebody threw it out there, of course never [imagining] in a million years would we get Booster Gold,” Klemmer recalled. “And then it felt like 15 minutes later, DC called us back and was just like, ‘Hey, Booster’s yours.’ And just you have a moment of being like, ‘Okay, this is clearly a prank of some sort, because…’ We were all giddy and in disbelief and then it just became a quest of finding an actor who was worthy of the character.”
As for how Faison came to be cast as Booster, Klemmer explained that getting him felt like another pie-in-the-sky chance, but it turns out the actor was a major Legends fan.
“Again, you have these moments of not wanting to allow yourself to get your heart set on someone like Donald Faison and we saw it taking shape and [couldn’t] believe this [was] happening,” Klemmer said. “And then you have this moment of finally meeting the guy, and obviously we’re all super familiar with his work… And you’re like, “This guy is the best.” This guy loves the show, loves the world. He’s as steeped in this stuff as any of us who’ve been working on the show for seven years.”
Booster Gold has been reimagined somewhat for the screen. In addition to casting a Black actor to portray a character depicted in the comics as Caucasian, Booster is also no longer the father of Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill), who featured in earlier seasons, like he is in the comics. Nevertheless, the hero is sure to make a big impact on Legends of Tomorrow going forward. That is, assuming The CW gives it the renewal it deserves; the network is due to make a decision on season eight in the next few months.
