The CW's Legends of Tomorrow airs a new episode May 26, sending the Waverider team into television history to visit the worlds of Star Trek and Downton Abbey. The episode was teased in a hilarious trailer last month, which also showed the team in a Friends and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood themed world. This will be Executive Producer and co-creator Marc Guggenheim's directorial debut.
The Arrowverse spin-off series has already been renewed for a season 6. Because it wrapped months ago, their production schedule was mostly unaffected by the pandemic, unlike The Flash, Batwoman, and Supergirl, which were forced to shorten their seasons in the shutdown. This means that Legends of Tomorrow will have a more natural ending to the current story arc, further contributing to its reputation as the Arrowverse's most consistent series.
The cast gave high praise to Marc Guggenheim for his first turn as director, with star Nick Zano (who plays Nate Heywood) telling TVLine it was one of the best episodes of the series, and "also one of the hardest we've ever made." Zano goes on to say that "[he] made some creative choices that were practical that some people save for the editing rooms, but he did it on the floor, which was kind of fun and interesting, and it challenged everybody in a very fun and productive way." Some newly released photos show the cast dressed up in proper Downton Abbey attire, as well as Star Trek-like uniforms. The official synopsis describes how "in true Legends style, some can't just be blissfully ignorant and happy, but figure out a way to end up messing with the system."
Guggenheim, who co-created the show and also produced for Arrow, and The Flash, has also been tasked with penning the script for Rob Liefeld's Prophet comic series, which Liefeld created in 1992 after leaving Marvel Comics with several other young artists at the time. Tristar Pictures picked up the film rights for Prophet in 1995 with plans to produce a live-action version, but the project never got past pre-production. In 2018, Studio 8 acquired the film rights to the movie, the same year that they produced Alpha and White Boy Rick.
With Legends of Tomorrow's wacky time-traveling premise, the creators of the show have a lot of free rein in tapping into lots of familiar television territory, and Downton Abbey and Star Trek are just two of the universes they could potentially visit. Last month's trailer also dropped some zombie footage, meaning the series could even take it to British zombie flicks like Shaun of the Dead and 28 Days Later. Only time will tell where they'll take it to next.
Source: TVLine