Since its origins with a single show — the long-running Arrow, now in its sixth season — The CW's ever-expanding roster of series set in the DC Universe has grown to encompass four programs, all with their own separate strengths and stories.
The first spin-off, The Flash, shirked the darker tones of its predecessor to deliver a lighter world and a more joyous take on heroism — a vibe it momentarily lost sight of, especially during its grim third season — while later addition Supergirl, which joined the CW DCU at the beginning of its second season following an earlier inter-network crossover with The Flash, also showed its hero both revelling in her peerless power set. There are struggles, sure, but both shows are underpinned by a hopefulness about, and belief in, the value of superheroes.
For Legends Of Tomorrow, which chronicles the time-travelling (mis)adventures of a lovable motley crew of B-listers, reformed villains and cast-offs from the CW DCU's other shows, it took a little longer for the show to settle into itself. Its first season, while not necessarily bad, struggled with what many perceived to be a weak villain and a perhaps misguided investment in a love story about reincarnated Egyptian royalty, the overarching plot shackled by the authoritarian confines of the big-bad-in-the-background, the Time Masters.
With season two, though, the show quite literally blew all that up, demolishing the Time Masters, ridding themselves of the star-crossed heroes and the sleazy immortal bad guy and freed itself up to be what it was meant to be: a far more joyous, funny and downright comic-bookish adventure series than its first season ever allowed it to be.
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Now in its third season, Legends is stronger than ever, and has arguably outrun its shaky origins to become one of the strongest offerings among the CW's DCU cabal.
For British actor Franz Drameh, who plays Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson, aka one-half of the nuclear-powered superhero Firestorm, that shift in tone was one that was palpable not only on-screen but behind the scenes too. Speaking to The Music ahead of his journey Down Under for Supanova Comic-Con & Gaming expo, he explained: "The more we kind of embraced the comedic element to a degree and just the more fun wacky zaniness of what the show could be, I thought, like, that's when we kind of found our stride and made the show into what it now is."
Part of that, Drameh says, is due to the tight bond that has formed among the show's ensemble cast, which has changed across the seasons and now encompasses Drameh, Victor Garber (Martin Stein, Jax's 'other half' in Firestorm), Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/The Atom), Caity Lotz (Sara Lance/White Canary), Dominic Purcell (Mick Rory/Heatwave), Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Amaya Jiwe/Vixen), Nick Zano (Nate Heywood/Steel) and newcomer Tala Ashe, who recently joined the cast as fresh recruit Zari Adrianna Tomaz.
Drameh, perhaps unsurprisingly, given their obvious chemistry, describes the cast as being "really … like a big family". "Everybody gets along, which is very rare, in fact," he says. "It's like that on and off screen."
"Tala is actually amazing," he says of the newest cast member. "She just fit in like one of the gang straight away, so, yeah, she instantly became one of the fam. She's awesome."
Of her character, Zari, and how she'll impact the team going forward, he posits: "I definitely think she is going to kind of rock the boat a bit, to say the least. She has a bit of a different way of thinking than the rest of the legends. As she even says herself, she is not a hero, so she's got her own things going on that may, I think, clash with some of the Legends. We'll see what happens!"
One of the big joys of the scope of the CW's DC shows is the annual crossover event, which this year — the upcoming Crisis On Earth-X — properly includes all four titles for the first time. Rather than each cast getting stuck in their own little corner when they come together to film, though, Drameh says — because of many of the Legends characters' roots on Arrow and The Flash — that it's basically one big familial get-together.
"It is mental," It's crazy. "Like ... it's extremely hard, so I'm amazed at those crossovers, because you have these four shows that all film at the same time that now have to go to all four shows all at the same time, so it's insane, in that respect. It's crazy. But it's so much fun just to be able to work with your fellow peers, because a lot of these characters have been crossing over or were introduced in different shows in those universes, so it's all like one big family reunion."
As in real life, families don't always stay the same — people move away, new faces come through, and so on — and so it is on Legends, where the cast is about to experience the loss of mainstay Garber (which spells big things for Jax) as well as seeing the final appearances of long-time favourite Wentworth Miller as Leonard Snart/Captain Cold. On the other hand, there will be a two-part cameo by Matt Ryan as Constantine — a role he has already reprised on Arrow, being responsible for restoring Sara Lance's soul following her resurrection (comic books, right?). Despite all this change, Drameh is forced to remain pretty tight-lipped about what this all means for his character and teammates moving forward.
As a comic book fan himself, though (he even has a Batman tattoo, and revels in the fact that "I actually get to be a superhero on TV … [it's] insane"), he ultimately hopes that the people who really count — the fans — stay with them for the ride, and relishes the opportunity to hear their thoughts about the show at events such as his upcoming appearances for Supanova.
"That's my favourite thing, is getting to interact with the fans and hearing what they think about the show and what they like, and what they don't like too," he says. "I love hearing what people think — because at the end of the day, that's the reason that we make the show, is for people to enjoy and to like, so I find it really interesting what people make about the show."
But, as far as all the changes ahead are concerned?
"The thing about Legends is you never know what's going to happen," Drameh teases. "You might see it going one way, and then out of the blue it just takes a left, so — who knows? I cannot… who knows? Wait and see!"
Supanova Comic-Con & Gaming comes to Brisbane from 10-12 November, and Adelaide from 17-19 November. See the event's website for more information.
