Legends of Tomorrow: Zari's Powers Explained

This week's Legends of Tomorrow will see the rogue time traveler Zari join the team, and it sounds as if she possesses her own powerful Totem. Two years ago, The CW kicked off a bold new initiative to help flesh out the Arrowverse. Beginning with the animated series Vixen on the streaming service CW Seed, new stories were able to be told featuring DC Comics characters. Soon enough, more shows will join Vixen, but it stands alone in its influence on the live-action Arrowverse.

After the first season of Vixen, lead character Mari McCabe jumped over to an episode of Arrow, along with voice actor Megalyn Echikunwoke in the role. She hasn't returned yet, but her grandmother has been serving as the '40s-era Vixen on Legends of Tomorrow for awhile. Meanwhile, the events of Vixen season two will have a big impact on the time traveling show. We've already heard what some of the connections between Vixen and Legends of Tomorrow will be, and last week saw the rebirth of Mari's sister Kuasa after her death on Vixen. Now, yet another thread will be added to that story.

RELATED: Zari Is A Reluctant Hero On Legends of Tomorrow

EW spoke with Tala Ashe, who will play Zari on Legends of Tomorrow. A hacktivist from the future, the team will encounter her this week in her eponymous episode. When they do, she will possess some interesting powers and a unique connection to Kuasa and her grandmother Amaya. When Ashe was asked about why Kuasa is hunting Zari, she had this to say:

"Actually, what I can tease is that it’s a mystery. It’s something that I think is going to shake out through also Amaya’s relationship with Kuasa, so it’s something that I don’t actually quite know. There’s actually a lot of, “Why are these people after me?” in the first few episodes for Zari, but then something happens in the first episode that Zari appears where it gives her the impetus to join the Legends, and she has her own sort of mission in mind, but there is enough of an incentive to leave 2042 at that point."

Tala Ashe as Zari Tomaz on Legends of Tomorrow

From the preview for this week's Legends of Tomorrow, it's clear just want Kuasa wants. We can see Zari at one point activate a pendant she's wearing, which grants her the ability to create a giant vortex. On Vixen, Kuasa was after the five Zambesi Totems. One is the Spirit Totem, which grants the various Vixens the powers of the animal kingdom. The other four are tied to the classical elements, and it looks like Zari has the Air Totem:

"It has lots of powers in it. The totem is something that she associates with the great power it has and also with her family. It is a kind of — I don’t know if heirloom is quite the right word, but it’s something that is in her family, so taking it on also entails carrying that torch for her family, which is tricky and I think she feels sort of not worthy in certain ways and maybe not even capable of carrying that amulet forward for her family."

On Vixen season 2, the Fire Totem was destroyed and the Water Totem seemed to be incinerated alongside Kuasa. Given the villain's watery revival in the last episode of Legends of Tomorrow, it looks as if its powers may remain. There's been no indication where the other two are, but we have speculated that the Totems will factor into Legends of Tomorrow this season. Indeed, it looks like the Air Totem has been passed down to Zari and Kuasa will be eager to get her hands on it. We bet it's only a matter of time before the Earth Totem also shows up on Legends of Tomorrow.