Following The CW's decision to cancel Legends of Tomorrow, the showrunner addresses some of the toxic fans that have had a hostile reaction to the news. While the Arrowverse has been a major franchise for The CW since 2012, the DC TV shows are in for some changes in the upcoming TV season. In previous years, The CW has gone ahead and renewed the majority of their dramas, which include the Arrowverse shows. Normally, the network would hand out renewals in late January/early February, which would allow creative teams to start early in planning their next respective seasons.
Legends of Tomorrow has been one of the few Arrowverse shows to have a shorter run as they normally have 13-16 episode orders. This year, Legends of Tomorrow season 7 had only 13, as they wrapped their run in early March. This was also the case for Batwoman season 3, as the two DC dramas aired their season finales, but without knowing if they would be back for another season. Due to The CW's future being up in the air as its owners are looking to sell it, the status quo to their renewal process got changed as many shows had to wait for an extended time if they would be back next season.
Unfortunately, Legends of Tomorrow became one of the Arrowverse shows to get officially canceled after having been on the air for 7 seasons. While there has been some understandable disappointment amongst viewers, some sides of the fandom have taken their responses a bit too far with toxic and inappropriate behavior. Keto Shimizu, who was one of the Legends of Tomorrow showrunners, addressed this behavior recently on Twitter, stating that harassment and attacks on people who made the decision to scrap the show are not tolerable whatsoever. Check out Shimizu's full statement below:
Click here to view the original tweet.
Click here to view the original tweet.
Click here to view the original tweet.
Click here to view the original tweet.
Since the announcement that Legends of Tomorrow wouldn't get a season 8, there have been a lot of strong reactions across social media. One of the biggest disappointments was that the end of the Arrowverse spinoff meant a huge loss of representation in the franchise. Legends of Tomorrow has, over the years, been critically praised for its inclusion of people of color as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community. This is a similar point for Batwoman, which was also canceled the same day as Legends of Tomorrow.
It goes without saying that any form of toxic behavior is inexcusable as it's never justified to sink to that level, no matter how upset one is with a show's cancellation. While it's understandable to be disappointed with The CW's call to end Legends of Tomorrow without a final season, attacking anyone involved with the decision is never the answer. As Shimizu pointed out, there are still real people behind those decisions, and targeting anyone with threats will not bring a show like Legends of Tomorrow back. The CW's Arrowverse properties aren't the only ones to have their status quo changed. Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly set to do a major overhaul for their DC TV shows and movies following the completion of the merger. This means a lot is changing behind the scenes, but with the Arrowverse still going, hopefully at least one of the current shows will bring back some Legends of Tomorrow characters next season.
Source: Keto Shimizu