The CWThe CW's newest DC Comics show, Legends of Tomorrow, has a bunch of familiar faces (literally all but one of said Legends have been introduced on either The Flash or Arrow over the past several years). But it doesn't really feel like either of its superhero show predecessors. In fact, it has a lot more in common with a little movie franchise you might've heard of: Star Wars.
You know, that old movie from the ‘70s? Star Brandon Routh, who plays Ray Palmer/The Atom, says his new show does have that old-school Star Wars feel. "That camaraderie and how you have the wry humor and the acerbic nature…there is some of that in the relationships that we're building, and that's the core of the show," he tells E! News.
In tonight's series premiere, you'll see how each of the team members (Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Firestorm, White Canary, and their time travel guru, Rip Hunter) come together to form their time-traveling group of misfits tasked with stopping the immortal villain Vandal Savage. (You can also watch their introduction in the exclusive clip below.)
Explains Routh, "We're obviously fighting Vandal Savage but [the relationships are] what the show's about: It's about us and how we help and hurt each other to save the day, at its core. Without that, the show's just explosions. It is kind of Oceans 11 with time travel. Something's always happening."
Star Dominic Purcell, who plays Mick Rory/Heat Wave, has another comparison: "It's very similar in scope to Marvel's The Avengers, but it's the DC version," he tells us.
The show will skip around through different decades as the group tries different ways to stop Vandal Savage. In the premiere they head to the ‘70s, and they'll go to the ‘80s, the future, and the distant past.
"We spend about two episodes in each time. Each couple of episodes is almost its own show," explains Routh." It has a very unique feel, the dress changes and what we're doing changes, so it almost changes tonally how the show feels."
Says star Caity Lotz, who plays Sara Lance/White Canary, "Each time, you're doing totally different hair, totally different makeup, totally different costumes. On Arrow, I was always in Sara's pants and a t-shirt, or the Canary costume. Now I rarely wear the Canary costume, which is kind of nice, because those things are so uncomfortable. It's fun to switch it up. You don't get bored."
While Routh doesn't have a favorite decade just yet, the latest era he filmed was pretty exciting. "We're doing one upcoming—which I can't talk about, which is a bigger leap in some ways—that I'm excited for, that I wasn't expecting because they said we weren't going to go too far."
Purcell already has a request for a future destination: "I do have a love for the '20s," he admits. "I must have lived there in a past life. That's one place I'd love for Mick Rory to visit. He'd cause so much havoc; he'd love it."
Lotz would also love to head to the early 20th century. "I'd like to go to the roaring '20s in Berlin," she says. "Just seems like an artistic explosion of culture."
Legends of Tomorrow airs Thursdays at 8 p.m.
Additional reporting by Lauren Piester.