Legends of Tomorrow Trailer Analysis: Easter Eggs, Comics References, and Time Travel

What do you get when you take a ragtag group of superhumans, throw them together and ask them to save the world? Apparently, you get DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

This show is a joint spinoff of The Flash and Arrow, with characters from both series returning and a couple new ones for good measure.

The show isn’t going to air until sometime in 2016, but at least we have a trailer to scrutinize in the meantime.

Spoiler warning for the season 3 finale of Arrow at the bottom of this post (after the last screencap).

What’s Going On in the Trailer?

No time is wasted establishing the fact that this is a spinoff series, as we’re treated first to scenes with Oliver Queen or Arrow (Green Arrow in the comics) and then several with Barry Allen who we also know as The Flash.

Both parties are trying to convince a ragtag group of superhumans — and villains — that they should work together as a team.

Barry Allen: “Sometimes the world needs a team.”

Martin Stein: “You call this a team?”

Then, off we go through the introductions. First, we see Ciara Renée as Hawkgirl soaring over rooftops.

Next, we’re introduced to Caity Lotz as White Canary. Arrow fans may recognize her as Sara Lance, but how is this possible? Isn’t she dead?

In the trailer we see her rise from the Lazarus Pits, the same mysterious bath that Ra’s al Ghul used to live longer than normal. As we learned from Arrow, the Pits cannot be used without consequence. That’s likely why her character seems different here. It’s unclear how this resurrection will affect her new alter ego, White Canary. Lotz has said in the past “Where they’re going to go with the character is exciting.”

Looks like we’ll have to wait and see.

The image above shows White Canary in her full outfit.

Then, there’s Wentworth Miller as Captain Cold, and Dominic Purcell as Heat Wave. The Flash fans will recognize them instantly as a pair of criminals who caused trouble for Barry Allen across several episodes. They’ve been united with the rest of the team, this time to fight crime instead of causing it.

Brandon Routh returns as the Atom. Or, as Stein describes, he’s “a billionaire with more tech than he clearly knows what to do with.”

The Atom has appeared on both Arrow and The Flash before.

Finally, we have Martin Stein or Firestorm, who was created when his body merged with that of Ronnie Raymond during a nuclear blast. In the image above, we can see the two men reintegrating.

It’s tough to see here but that’s Firestorm in “combustible” form and he’s flying. Of course, that’s something fans of The Flash already knew he could do.

Shortly after we finish the introductions it’s revealed that the series big bad will be Vandal Savage. We don’t get a chance to see anything more than a shadow, but apparently he’s been alive “thousands of years,” and is “immortal.”

He also commands “the most powerful army the world has ever seen,” and presumably he’s invading. No doubt that’s what our makeshift heroes will be working to stop.

Let’s just stop for a moment to talk about this guy. In the DC comics universe, Vandal Savage is actually a caveman from the prehistoric period. A meteor falls from the sky crashing to Earth, and Savage is exposed to a massive amount of radiation. In turn, this grants him immortality. As a side effect, the radiation also evolves his mind to be superhuman in nature and Savage possesses knowledge well beyond his time.

It’s possible we don’t see anything more than a shadow here because an actor has yet to be chosen for the role. Maybe they just want to keep some surprises for later?

White Canary asks Arrow why he believes the group can resist such a powerful enemy. That’s when Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) reveals himself.

He’s the member of a team called The Time Masters, from the future. He claims they are an “organization charged with the protection of history itself.” He also explains that in the future the group of superhumans before him are not just a team, they’re “legends.”

Then he adds, “Well, those of you who survive at least.” Could this mean that some members of the team are going to be killed off throughout the series?

Backtracking a bit here, that’s definitely Harrison Wells in his Reverse Flash outfit. He pops on screen for a moment while Rip Hunter is giving his little spiel. This is likely the future, where Eobard Thawne — the real person inside Wells body — hails from.

Wells, or Thawne, is from The Flash and served as Barry Allen’s mentor for a time.

Savage’s evil “spans throughout the course of history,” so the team is going to have to warp through time to stop him.

We get a quick glimpse at the future, perhaps after Savage has already caused a significant amount of damage? Is this what the team is working to stop, or is it something that’s inevitable?

We’ve learned from watching Barry Allen on The Flash that changing the future is quite difficult, even if you know what’s going to happen.

Those are lasers dude (and dudettes). Clearly, these guys are from the future.

That is The Flash taking out a group of the same baddies. This leads me to believe that he will have a cameo later on in Legends of Tomorrow, which could also suggest Arrow will appear too.

I have to admit, I was wondering what could be so tough about fighting a bunch of brainless soldiers in Savage’s army. From this scene we can see the big bad has much more up his sleeve.

I couldn’t help but wonder from the scene above where the rest of the team is? Rip Hunter and Hawkgirl are missing. We did see Firestorm attacking baddies in an earlier scene so he’s hovering somewhere nearby. What about Heat Wave? If The Flash is there, Arrow must be around too, but where is he?

It’s possible that the team split up, with the other half taking care of business elsewhere. Did they travel through time?

That’s an awesome shot of Hawkgirl and Firestorm racing, through the air.

~~I’m not entirely sure what’s happening~~ in the final scene after the Legends of Tomorrow logo pops up. White Canary asks Atom if he was dead, and he says no. Then, he shrinks down to the size of an ant and runs off screen. Interesting.

Update: Having watched the season 3 finale of Arrow, I understand this scene now. The Palmer Technologies building blows up with what seems like Ray Palmer inside. Obviously, his character doesn’t die — or stay dead — because he shows up in Legends of Tomorrow. Judging by White Canary’s comment and Atom’s response, his miniaturization function worked and saved him.

I won’t bother discussing how similar Atom is to Marvel’s superhero Ant-Man (thanks Baz).