The third season of the American television series '' Legends of Tomorrow'', which is based on characters from

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, premiered on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

on October 10, 2017, and ran for 18 episodes until April 9, 2018. The season follows the Legends, a dysfunctional team of time-traveling superheroes and anti-heroes, and their mission to correct anachronisms in time that they unintentionally caused. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

'' and ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

''. The season is produced by

Berlanti Productions Berlanti Productions is an American film and television production company founded by screenwriter, producer and filmmaker Greg Berlanti and producer Mickey Liddell. History The company was founded in 2000 as Berlanti-Liddell Productions by ...

, Warner Bros. Television, and

DC Entertainment DC Entertainment is an American entertainment company that was founded in September 2009 and was based in Burbank, California. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery that manages its DC Comics units and characters in other units, ...

, with

Phil Klemmer Phil Klemmer is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work on UPNs ''Veronica Mars'', the NBC series ''Chuck'', and The CW series ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Early life Klemmer grew up in Winchester, Virginia being kept f ...

and Chris Fedak serving as

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

s. The season was ordered in January 2017. Production began that July and ended in February 2018. Principal cast members Caity Lotz, Brandon Routh, Victor Garber,

Franz Drameh Franz Alhusaine Drameh (born 5 January 1993) is an English actor. His film debut was in Clint Eastwood's fantasy drama, ''Hereafter'' (2010). He also appeared in British film '' Attack the Block'' (2011) and the 2014 blockbuster ''Edge of Tomor ...

Maisie Richardson-Sellers Maisie Richardson-Sellers is a British actress. She is known for her recurring role as Eva Sinclair on The CW series '' The Originals'', as well as her starring roles as King Saul of Israel's daughter Michal in the ABC Biblical series ''Of King ...

, Amy Pemberton, Nick Zano, and

Dominic Purcell Dominic Haakon Myrtved PurcellO'Connor, B,Break Out". ''Men's Fitness''. December/January 2007 Issue; retrieved 18 December 2006. (born 17 February 1970) is a British-Australian actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Lincoln Burrows in F ...

return from previous seasons. They are joined by new cast members

Tala Ashe Talayeh Ashrafi ( fa, طلایه اشرفی; born July 24, 1984) known professionally as Tala Ashe, is an Iranian-American actress. She is known for her roles on the television series '' Smash'', ''American Odyssey'', and ''As the World Turns'', ...

and ''The Flash'' alum Keiynan Lonsdale. Drameh, Garber and Lonsdale all depart the series thought the season. Multiple of the seasons recurring characters were promoted to regulars in the following season including, Matt Ryan,

Jes Macallan Jes Macallan is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Josslyn Carver in ABC drama series ''Mistresses'' and Ava Sharpe in The CW superhero comedy-drama ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Career Jes Macallan is an actor and director. Bef ...

, and

Courtney Ford Courtney Braden Ford is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on television, such as playing Christine Hill on ''Dexter (TV series), Dexter'' (2009), Portia Bellefleur on ''True Blood'' (2011), Lily on ''Parenthood (2010 TV serie ...

. The series was met with positive reviews from critics. Critics praised the season for its goofiness and cast. Several of them felt that it greatly improved on the previous two seasons. It was nominated for a

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

for "Best Superhero Television Adaptation Series". The season averaged 2.37 million viewers per episode.

Premise

The Legends find out that attempting to time travel with two versions of themselves on board the ''Waverider'' had more of an impact on time than they thought. Due to this blunder, anachronisms have popped up along the timeline including both objects and people. Rip Hunter's new Time Bureau, a replacement organization for the Time Masters, forces the Legends to disband and resume normal lives. However, they are forced back into action and allowed to work as deputized members of the Time Bureau; they remain unaware that Rip is planning to use their often-destructive tendencies for a threat bigger than the anachronisms.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

* Caity Lotz as Sara Lance / White Canary * Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer / Atom * Victor Garber as Martin Stein / Firestorm *

as Jefferson "Jax" Jackson / Firestorm *

as Amaya Jiwe / Vixen *

Amy Louise Pemberton Amy Louise Pemberton is a British actress. She portrays Gideon in the television series '' Legends of Tomorrow'' and voiced Elaena Glenmore in the ''Game of Thrones'' video game. She voiced Slone from '' Titanfall 2'' (2016), and played Priva ...

Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiez ...

(voice) *

Zari Tomaz Zari Tomaz and Zari Tarazi are fictional Character (arts), characters portrayed by Tala Ashe in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, primarily the television series ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Loosely inspired by the characters Andrea Thomas (character), ...

* Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West / Kid Flash * Nick Zano as Nate Heywood / Steel *

as Mick Rory / Heat Wave

Recurring

* Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter * Christina Brucato as

Lily Stein ''Legends of Tomorrow'' is an American television series, developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Phil Klemmer, and Andrew Kreisberg, based on several characters from DC Comics. The series premiered in the United States on January 21, 2016, ...

Ava Sharpe ''Legends of Tomorrow'' is an American television series, developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Phil Klemmer, and Andrew Kreisberg, based on several characters from DC Comics. The series premiered in the United States on January 21, 2016, ...

Adam Tsekhman Adam Tsekhman is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Gary Green on the television series ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Early life Adam Tsekhman was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but raised in Toronto, Ontario. His parents were Ukrainian imm ...

as Gary Green *

Hiro Kanagawa is a Japanese-Canadian actor and playwright based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has appeared in numerous high-profile films and television series shot in the Vancouver area, including '' Smallville'', '' Caprica'', ''Godzilla'', ''The Man i ...

as Wilbur Bennett * Tracy Ifeachor as

Kuasa ''Legends of Tomorrow'' is an American television series, developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Phil Klemmer, and Andrew Kreisberg, based on several characters from DC Comics. The series premiered in the United States on January 21, 2016, ...

* Joy Richardson as Amaya Jiwe's ancestor * Neal McDonough as

Damien Darhk Dan the Dyna-Mite Dan Turpin Damien Darhk The enigmatic Damien Darhk is an elusive and dangerous criminal mastermind and enemy of the Teen Titans. He makes his first appearance in ''Titans'' #1 (March 1999). Claiming to be a major player in t ...

Nora Darhk ''Legends of Tomorrow'' is an American television series, developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Phil Klemmer, and Andrew Kreisberg, based on several characters from DC Comics. The series premiered in the United States on January 21, 2016, ...

John Noble John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is known for his roles as Denethor in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Dr. Walter Bishop on the science fiction series ''Fringe'', Henry Parrish on the action-horror series '' ...

voices

Mallus Mallus may refer to: *Mallus (Cilicia), an ancient city in Cilicia, Anatolia * Mallus (Pisidia), an ancient city in Pisidia, Anatolia * Mallus (''Legends of Tomorrow''), a mysterious entity in the American superhero television series * Marco Mallu ...

** Noble also appears as himself * Matt Ryan as

John Constantine John Constantine () is a fictional character who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Constantine first appeared in ''Swamp Thing'' #37 (June 1985), and was created by Alan Moore, Stephen R. Bissette, Rick Veitch, and John ...

Guest

Production

Development and filming

In January 2017, ahead of the second season's conclusion, '' Legends of Tomorrow'' was renewed by

for a third season. Later in the year the season was officially given an 18 episode order. Filming for the season began on July 18, 2017, and ended in February 2018. For the episode " Here I Go Again" Amy Pemberton physically portrayed

, unlike most episodes where she only voiced the character. Sellers called her experience playing the 72-year-old version of Amaya Jiwe "horrible" because of the practical elements that were involved in creating the character's look, particularly the makeup. She recalled, "I was sent to a full head cast ..I was covered in plaster from my shoulders up with just two breathing holes for two hours. They then created a whole new face and neck for me that was glued on and spray painted over the course of four hours. The end result was freakishly convincing."

Writing

Season three features a genre shift from science fiction to fantasy, as well as a change in tone being far lighter than the previous two, being far more wacky and silly. Showrunner

teased the changes described season three as being "more in the world of the occult and monsters". Co-creator Marc Guggenheim explained that, part of the motivation for adding the Muslim character

to the series was the "political climate" in the United States following the

2016 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 A ...

. Klemmer revealed that he wanted to have the Legends visit new locations including Golden Age Hollywood and Victorian London. The character

Gorilla Grodd Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in ''Th ...

throughout the season in an antagonistic role. Though he was written to be more sympathetic following his defeat in ''The Flash'' as seen in the "

Gorilla City This page list the locations in the DC Universe, the shared universe setting of DC Comics. Sites * the Arrowcave – The former base of operations of the Green Arrow and Speedy. * Avernus Cemetery – A burial ground located in Central City for ...

" two-parter.

Casting

Returning series regulars from the previous season include Victor Garber, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz,

, Amy Pemberton, Nick Zano and

as Martin Stein,

Ray Palmer Ray Palmer may refer to: * Raymond A. Palmer, science-fiction writer and editor * Raymond F. Palmer, medical professor * Ray Palmer (pastor), American pastor and author of hymns * Ray Palmer (Arrowverse), a TV show character based on his comic boo ...

Sara Lance Sara Lance, also known by her alter-ego White Canary, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, first introduced in the 2012 pilot episode of the television series ''Arrow'', and later starring in ''Legends of Tomorrow''. The c ...

Jefferson Jackson J.A.K.E. 1 J.A.K.E. 2 J'onn J'onzz Jack Jack of Clubs Jack of Fire Jack O'Lantern Jack the Ripper Jackal Jackhammer Jaclyn Jade Jacob Ashe Jakeem Thunder Java Java is a fictional character appearing in American comic ...

Amaya Jiwe ''Legends of Tomorrow'' is an American television series, developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Phil Klemmer, and Andrew Kreisberg, based on several characters from DC Comics. The series premiered in the United States on January 21, 2016, ...

, Gideon, Nate Heywood and Mick Rory respectively. They were joined by

and Keiynan Lonsdale playing Zari Tomaz and Wally West, respectively. Lonsdale was previously a regular on ''The Flash''. It was the only season to feature Lonsdale as a regular, as he departed after the season finale, citing his desire to seek other acting opportunities. This was the final season to feature Garber and Drameh as regulars. Garber leaves in " Crisis on Earth X, Part 4", followed by Drameh in the following episode. While Garber departure was due to him wanting to resume his career in Broadway theater, Drameh's exit was a creative decision. Drameh returned in the season finale, "The Good, the Bad and the Cuddly". Richardson-Sellers's character Amaya Jiwe, leaves in the season finale. However, Richardson-Sellers returned the following season as Charlie / Clotho. Arthur Darvill, who played Rip Hunter as a main cast member in the first two seasons, was demoted to recurring for the season. Various actors returned in their roles from other Arrowvverse series in recurring capacity, such as Neal McDonough as

David Sobolov David Sobolov (born October 23, 1964) is a Canadian voice actor and director, best known for his roles as Depth Charge in '' Beast Wars: Transformers'', Gorilla Grodd in '' The Flash'', Drax the Destroyer in various media, Shockwave in '' Transfo ...

as the voice of Grodd, and Christina Brucato as Lily Stein. Tracy Ifeachor was cast as Jiwe's granddaughter

, replacing Anika Noni Rose who voiced the character in the animated web series '' Vixen'', and

replaced Tuesday Hoffman as Damien's daughter Nora, Ford was upped to series regular in the following season. Sellers' mother Joy Richardson recurred as Jiwe's vision quest ancestor. Matt Ryan recurs as

. He previously portrayed the character in the canceled NBC television series ''

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given na ...

''. The series was retroactively added to the Arrowverse after Ryan guest starred in the ''

season four A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

episode "

Haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...

". Ryan was promoted to a series regular in the next season. Wentworth Miller, who played Leonard Snart / Captain Cold as a regular in season 1 and recurred in season 2, returned to play the character's Earth-X doppelganger Leo Snart / Citizen Cold. Miller portrayed the character in a guest capacity.

and

recurred as the Time Bureau agents

, Gary Green and Wilbur Bennett, respectively. Macallan was promoted to regular in the following season.

voices

, the season's main antagonist, but the character's true form is not revealed until the season's penultimate episode, "Guest Starring John Noble". During the episode Noble additionally portrays a fictionalized version of himself in a guest appearance.

Crossover

In May 2017, then president of The CW

Mark Pedowitz Mark Pedowitz is the former chairman and CEO of The CW. He replaced Dawn Ostroff in 2011, who had been the Head of Entertainment since the network's inception in 2006. Pedowitz oversaw all aspects of The CW, including programming, sales, marketing ...

publicly announced plans for a four-show Arrowverse

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

event, consisting of '' Supergirl'', ''The Flash'', ''Legends of Tomorrow'', and ''Arrow''. The crossover, ''

Crisis on Earth-X "Crisis on Earth-X" is the fourth Arrowverse Crossover (fiction), crossover event, featuring episodes of the live-action television series ''Supergirl (TV series), Supergirl'', ''Arrow (TV series), Arrow'', ''The Flash (2014 TV series), The Flash ...

'', began with ''Supergirl'' and a special airing of ''Arrow'' on November 27, 2017, and concluded with back-to-back airings of ''The Flash'' and ''Legends of Tomorrow'' on November 28.

Release

The third season of ''Legends of Tomorrow'' aired on

in the United States. It aired weekly from October 10, 2017, through December 5 where it took a mid-season break. It returned on February 12, 2018, and concluded on April 9. The season was made available for streaming on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in late April 2018, soon after the season finale aired. It was released on bot

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on September 25, 2018.

Ratings

In terms of live viewership season high was "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4" with 2.80 million viewers, and the season low was "No Country for Old Dads" with 1.19 million viewers. When accounting for seven-day DVR viewership "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4" remains the peak with an additional 1.82 million viewers for a total of 4.62 million. The season low becomes "Amazing Grace" with 2.03 million. Overall the season averaged 2.37 million viewers per episode.

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported a 88% approval rating off of 36 reviews. The average rating being 7.95/10 based on 8 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'' lightens up the tone in its third season while spotlighting adventurous plots and a distinct sense of humor." Critics praised the season for its lighter tone and overall cast of character, several of them labeling the season the best one to date. '' Vox'' writer Sara Ghaleb wrote, "The corner of The CW's Arrowverse became its best self in season three". Ghaleb described the episode as goofy and silly, feeling that while the premise of the plot seemed ridiculous it came together neatly. Writng for ''

Tell-Tale TV ''Tell-Tale TV'' is an American entertainment news website dedicated to the coverage of television-related news, discussion, reviews and criticism. History ''Tell-Tale TV'' was founded in 2014 as "a TV-focused website dedicated to offering in ...

'', Jennifer Ann rated the season a 5/5. Ann felt the season finale provided a satisfying narrative conclusion to the season. ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'''s Jesse Scheeden felt that season was the best of the series so far but also had the worst episodes overall. He rated the season a 8.1/10. Scheeden criticized the seasons main villain feeling that

did not properly pay off the build up. He also labeled the totem plot line "boring". Despite his negatives he strongly praised the team dynamic and the general cast of characters. In a ranking of Arrowverse seasons for ''Screen Rant'', Kath Leroy placed season three at the seventh best. Ahead of The Flash season 5, ''The Flash'' season five and behind Supergirl season 5, ''Supergirl'' season five. It is the second highest placed ''Legends of Tomorrow'' season only behind season two. In ''Collider (website), Collider'' ranking of all seven seasons by Adam Virgona, season three placed third, ahead of season four and behind Legends of Tomorrow season 7, season seven. Virgona praised the seasons transition from science fiction to fantasy. Writing for ''MovieWeb'', Richard Fink ranked the season second ahead of season four and behind season two. , - !scope=row , 45th Saturn Awards, 2018 , Saturn Awards , Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series , ''Legends of Tomorrow'' , , , - !scope=row , 2018 Teen Choice Awards, 2018 , Teen Choice Awards , Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress Action, Choice TV Actress: Action , Caity Lotz , ,

Notes

References

General references *

External links

* * {{Arrowverse 2017 American television seasons 2018 American television seasons Legends of Tomorrow seasons