WARNING: This article includes MAJOR spoilers for the Legends of Tomorrow season 7 finale.
As Legends of Tomorrow season 7 has come to its end, a longtime cast member is officially departing the Arrowverse series. When it comes to the Arrowverse shows, the cast is constantly changing as new characters get brought on while others exit. For Legends of Tomorrow, the Waverider crew has seen its fair share of changes in the last few seasons. Depending on the show, some actors have left sooner while others finished their run later. With the time-traveling DC drama being one of the franchise's oldest shows in the line-up, some of the original heroes have started to depart one by one.
In Legends of Tomorrow season 5, Brandon Routh, who began playing Ray Palmer/The Atom on Arrow before moving to the spinoff, had a mixed exit from the series alongside his real-life wife Courtney Ford, who portrayed Nora Darhk. During Legends of Tomorrow season 6, Dominic Purcell, who played Mick Rory/Heatwave on the show after starting out on The Flash, also bid farewell. As of right now, Caity Lotz's Sara Lance/White Canary is the only remaining original cast member from the first season. While The CW has yet to renew the Arrowverse series for an eighth year, the team will have one less familiar face.
Nick Zano, who boarded Legends of Tomorrow in season 2 as Nate Heywood/Citizen Steel, is the latest cast member to finish his adventure. TVLine reports that despite Legends of Tomorrow's fate being up in the air, Zano is departing the show as a series regular. During the Legends of Tomorrow season 7 finale, Nate ended up losing his powers during their World War I mission, which led to the heartbreaking goodbye. Keto Shimizu, one of the show's executive producers, shared the following statement about Zano's ending:
“It felt like it was time. It was sort of a natural time to say goodbye to this character. We feel so lucky to have had this wonderful span of six years of developing this character and working with such a talented man.”
Throughout Legends of Tomorrow season 7, the show alluded to the possibility that Nate was perhaps on his way out. While Nate is off the show, at least the finale gave him a very happy ending as he went to live in the Air Totem with the original Zari. What is also good with Legends of Tomorrow is that even when longtime cast members exit the show, the writers never close the door completely, allowing them to do guest spots. In the large scheme of things, Legends of Tomorrow has always been about having a semi-rotating cast, which keeps dynamics fresh.
As sad as Zano's exit was, it was just one of the several emotional beats from the Legends of Tomorrow season 7 finale. The CW has yet to renew the DC drama - or any of the ongoing Arrowverse series - for a new season, making this the first year where the show ends on a cliffhanger that may not be resolved. What is delaying the renewals is the fact that The CW is up for sale with its owners WarnerMedia and Paramount looking to sell it. While it's unclear what is happening behind the scenes, fans may have to wait a bit longer to find out if Legends of Tomorrow season 8 becomes a reality or not.
Source: TVLine