We recently learned that Keiynan Lonsdale would be switching The Flash for Legends of Tomorrow when the time-travelling show returns for the second half of its third season later this month. Now, we’re hearing that his arrival on the series will be tied in with the return of another key figure of the Arrowverse: Arthur Darvill’s Rip Hunter.
Exec producer Marc Guggenheim revealed to Entertainment Weekly that it’ll be thanks to Rip that Wally West joins the Waverider crew in the first place. Once he’s introduced to them, it seems that Barry Allen’s former speedster sidekick will take to the team pretty quickly and decide to stay aboard.
“Wally is brought to the team by Rip Hunter, of all people. And once he meets them, he realizes this is a good group to stay with.”
It’s interesting to hear that Rip will return along with Wally, as the former captain of the Waverider has only appeared in two episodes of season 3 so far. At the beginning of the year, we found out that he had joined the Time Bureau, a much more official bunch of timeline-protectors than the Legends. In episode 3, Rip’s fortunes changed when he was imprisoned by the Bureau due to his obsession with defeating the evil entity Mallus costing human lives.
Given that, relations will no doubt be strained when Rip reunites with the Legends in this unknown upcoming episode. Maybe he’s trying to break the ice between them by bringing the team a new pal? But will new captain Sara Lance forgive him? Time will tell.
What we know right now though is that Kid Flash will fill the void left by the exit of the two halves of Firestorm, Martin Stein (Victor Garber) and Jefferson “Jax” Jackson (Franz Drameh). In the mideseason premiere, Matt Ryan’s John Constantine will temporarily fill the gap, before Wally eventually steps in.
Legends of Tomorrow returns with “Daddy Darhkest” on Monday February 12th, filling Supergirl‘s slot for nine weeks.
