The fourth season of the American television series ''

Legends of Tomorrow ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American Time travel in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, ...

'', which is based on characters from

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

, premiered on

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

on October 22, 2018, and concluded on May 20, 2019, with a total of 16 episodes. The season follows the Legends, a dysfunctional team of time-traveling superheroes and anti-heroes, and their mission to recapture the magical fugitives that they accidentally released throughout time. It is set in the

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...

, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

'' and ''

The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...

''. The season was produced by

Berlanti Productions Berlanti Productions (formerly known as Berlanti-Liddell Productions and Berlanti Television) is an American film and television production company founded by screenwriter, producer and filmmaker Greg Berlanti and producer Mickey Liddell in 2000 ...

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios, operating under the name Warner Bros. Television (abbreviated as WBTV; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division), is an American television production and distribution studio and the flagship studio o ...

, and

DC Entertainment DC Entertainment is an American entertainment company that was founded in September 2009 and is based in Burbank, California. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery which manages DC Comics characters by working with other units ...

, with

Phil Klemmer Phil Klemmer is an American television writer and television producer, producer. He is known for his work on UPNs ''Veronica Mars'', the NBC series ''Chuck (TV series), Chuck'', and The CW series ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Early life Klemmer grew ...

and

Keto Shimizu Keto Shimizu (born December 23, 1984) is an American television writer, Television producer, producer, and comic book writer. She is known for her work on the North American adaptation of ''Being Human (North American TV series), Being Human'' a ...

serving as

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

s. The season was ordered in April 2018, and production began that July. Principal cast members

Brandon Routh Brandon Routh (; born October 9, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Superman in the 2006 film ''Superman Returns'', which garnered him international fame. In 2011, he played the title character of the film '' Dylan Dog: Dead of Night''. H ...

Caity Lotz Caity Lotz (born December 30, 1986) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. She has portrayed Stephanie Horton in the AMC series ''Mad Men'', Officer Kirsten Landry in the MTV mockumentary series ''Death Valley'' (2011), Annie in '' The Pact ...

Maisie Richardson-Sellers Maisie Richardson-Sellers is a British actress and director. She first gained recognition for her role as Rebekah Mikaelson / Eva Sinclair on The CW series '' The Originals''. She has since gained wider recognition for her starring roles as Kat ...

Tala Ashe Talayeh Ashrafi (;), known professionally as Tala Ashe, is an Iranian-American actress. Known for her roles on the television series '' Smash'', '' American Odyssey'', and ''As the World Turns'', as well as her regular role as Zari Tomaz and Za ...

, Amy Louise Pemberton,

Nick Zano Nick Zano (born March 8, 1978) is an American actor. He played List of What I Like About You characters#Vince, Vince in The WB's sitcom ''What I Like About You (TV series), What I Like About You''. He hosted MTV's former infotainment program abo ...

, and

Dominic Purcell Dominic Haakon Myrtvedt PurcellO'Connor, B,Break Out". '' Men's Fitness''. December/January 2007 Issue; retrieved 18 December 2006. (born 17 February 1970) is an Australian actor. He is best known as Lincoln Burrows in ''Prison Break'' (2005� ...

return from previous seasons, while

Jes Macallan Jes Macallan is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Josslyn Carver in ABC drama series '' Mistresses'' and Ava Sharpe in The CW superhero comedy-drama ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Early life Macallan trained in dance in her you ...

, Matt Ryan and

Courtney Ford Courtney Ford (born June 27, 1978) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on television, such as playing Christine Hill on ''Dexter'' (2009), Portia Bellefleur on ''True Blood'' (2011), Lily on '' Parenthood'' (2012), Tonia Pyn ...

were promoted to the principal cast from their recurring statuses in season three. They are joined by new cast member

Ramona Young Ramona Abish Young (born May 23, 1998) is an American actress. She is known for her recurring roles on the television series ''Man Seeking Woman'', ''The Real O'Neals'', and ''Santa Clarita Diet''. Young is also known for her regular roles as Kay ...

. The series was renewed for a fifth season on January 31, 2019.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

as Ray Palmer / Atom and Neron *

as Sara Lance / White Canary *

as Charlie *

Zari Tomaz Zari Tomaz and Zari Tarazi () are fictional characters portrayed by Tala Ashe in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, primarily the television series ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Loosely inspired by the characters Andrea Thomas and Adrianna Tomaz, both ...

Ava Sharpe ''Legends of Tomorrow'' is an American television series, developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Phil Klemmer, and Andrew Kreisberg, based on several characters from DC Comics. The series premiered in the United States on January 21, 2016, ...

as Nora Darhk * Amy Louise Pemberton as

Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites is recounted in of the Book of Judges in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible. Gideon was th ...

Mona Wu ''Legends of Tomorrow'' is an American television series, developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Phil Klemmer, and Andrew Kreisberg, based on several characters from DC Comics. The series premiered in the United States on January 21, 2016, ...

as Nate Heywood / Steel *

as Mick Rory / Heat Wave * Matt Ryan as

John Constantine John Constantine (), also known as Hellblazer, is an antihero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben, and first appeared in ''Swamp Thing'' #37 (June 1985). I ...

Recurring

Adam Tsekhman Adam Tsekhman is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Gary Green (Arrowverse), Gary Green on the television series ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Early life Adam Tsekhman was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but raised in Toronto, Ontario. His pa ...

as Gary Green * Tom Wilson as Hank Heywood * Susan Hogan as Dorothy Heywood *

Jane Carr Ellen Jane Carr (born 13 August 1950) is an English actress. She is well known for her first film role as Mary McGregor in drama '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1969) and the voice role of " Pud'n" on the animated '' The Grim Adventures of ...

as Fairy Godmother / Tabitha *

Christian Keyes Christian Keyes (born July 24, 1975) is an American actor and model. Born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in Flint, Michigan, Christian got his start in the entertainment industry by appearing in stage plays. He subsequently graduated to televis ...

as Desmond and Neron * Darien Martin as Konane *

Paul Reubens Paul Reubens (; ; August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023) was an American actor and comedian, widely known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman. Born in Peekskill, New York and raised in both Oneonta, New York and Sarasota, Flo ...

as Mike the Spike * Sisa Grey as

Wolfie Wolfie was an indie rock rock band, band from Champaign, Illinois, Champaign, Illinois. The band was active from 1996 to 2001 and toured nationally. They released three albums, an extended play, EP, and some singles before dissolving. Members ...

Guest

Production

Development

At the

Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 American and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts appli ...

winter press tour in January 2018,

president

Mark Pedowitz Mark Pedowitz is an American entertainment executive. From 2011 to 2022, he was the president, and then chairman and CEO of The CW, after replacing the former president of entertainment Dawn Ostroff. During his time at The CW, Pedowitz oversaw al ...

said he was "optimistic" and "confident" about ''Arrow'' and the other

shows returning next season, but added that it was too soon to announce anything just yet. On April 2, The CW renewed the series for its fourth season.

Marc Guggenheim Marc Guggenheim (born September 24, 1970) is an American screenwriter, television producer, comic book writer, and novelist. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''Eli Stone'' (2008–2009), ''Arrow'' (2012–2020), and ''Lege ...

stepped down as co-

at the end of the third season, with co-showrunner

originally set to emerge as sole showrunner for the fourth season. However,

ultimately replaced Guggenheim as co-showrunner, to serve alongside Klemmer for this season. Guggenheim, the series' co-developer along with Klemmer, remained involved as an executive consultant.

Writing

Phil Klemmer said that Mallus, the

Big Bad Big Bad is a term to describe a major recurring adversary, usually the chief villain or antagonist in a television series or a particular broadcast season of a series, originally used by the series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''.MacNeil, W. P. (200 ...

of the third season, was "a sort of bellwether of bad guys to come in Season 4", which he said would go deep into the "world of fantastic myths and monsters", without abandoning the time travel nature of the series. He also said the season would further explore the Time Bureau, which was introduced in season three. Klemmer added that at least one of the Legends would " break bad" in the season.

, who joined the series as

during the third season, said the fourth season would further explore the character's backstory, in addition to the prejudice and

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

experienced by her.

, who recurred in the third season as

Damien Darhk Beatriz Da Costa Reep Daggle Dagon Dan the Dyna-Mite Dan the Dyna-Mite is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Danny Dunbar was the star pupil of Thomas N. Thomas, a high school chemistry and phys ...

's daughter

Nora Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (1931–2025), French historian * Simon Nora (1921–2006), French politician Place ...

, hoped the fourth season would explore what the character is without the influence of her father and Mallus. Klemmer compared Neron, the season's Big Bad, to technology entrepreneur

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

, calling him a "disruptor" in Hell, similar to how Musk affected transportation with

Tesla Tesla most commonly refers to: * Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), a Serbian-American electrical engineer and inventor * Tesla, Inc., an American electric vehicle and clean energy company, formerly Tesla Motors, Inc. * Tesla (unit) (symbol: T), the SI-d ...

electric cars. Originally, the character of Hank Heywood was designed as the Big Bad of the season, however, when the writers saw Tom Wilson's performance and got to know him as a person, the character was rewritten as more sympathetic and likable. The original plan of turning

Nate Heywood Commander Steel (also known as Captain Steel, Citizen Steel and Sergeant Steel) is the name of three superheroes appearing in media published by DC Comics, all members of the same family. The first Steel appeared in ''Steel, The Indestructible ...

into a more sinister character because of his father was also abandoned in favor of a plotline where Hank is turned instead.

Casting

Main cast members

, Amy Louise Pemberton,

, and Tala Ashe return from previous seasons as Ray Palmer / Atom, Sara Lance / White Canary,

, Mick Rory / Heat Wave, Nate Heywood / Steel, and Zari Tomaz, respectively.

, who played Amaya Jiwe / Vixen in seasons two and three, also returned as a series regular, portraying a new character named Charlie, one of the season's magical fugitives. While Sellers spoke with an American accent when playing Amaya, she speaks with her native British accent when playing Charlie. In July 2018,

was added to the main cast as Alaska Yu, though her character was ultimately named

. Matt Ryan,

and

, who recurred in the third season as

and Nora Darhk respectively, were promoted to regular status for the fourth season.

Keiynan Lonsdale Keiynan Lonsdale ( ; born 19 December 1991) is an Australian actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter. He is known for roles such as Oliver Lloyd in the ABC series ''Dance Academy'' (2012–2013), Wally West/ Kid Flash in the CW series ''The Flash ...

, who portrayed Wally West / Kid Flash as a regular in the latter half of the third season, did not return in the same capacity for the fourth season. He cited his reason being his desire to seek other acting opportunities. This is the first season not to feature

Arthur Darvill Thomas Arthur Darvill (born 17 June 1982) is an English actor, composer and musician. He is known for portraying Rory Williams, a companion of the Eleventh Doctor in the television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2012), as well as Rip Hunter in ' ...

, who starred as

Rip Hunter Rip Hunter (Michael Jon Carter Jr.) is a time-traveling superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jack Miller and artist Ruben Moreira, the character first appeared in ''Showcase (comics), Showcase'' #20 ...

in the first two seasons, and recurred in the third season. It is also the first not to feature

Victor Garber Victor Garber, (born March 16, 1949) is a Canadian stage and film actor and singer. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2022, he was made an ...

and

Franz Drameh Franz Alhusaine Drameh (born 5 January 1993) is an English actor. His film debut was in Clint Eastwood's fantasy drama, ''Hereafter (film), Hereafter'' (2010). He also appeared in British film ''Attack the Block'' (2011) and the 2014 blockbuste ...

, who starred as

Martin Stein Martin Stein is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is commonly associated with, and sometimes is, the superhero Firestorm. Stein has made several appearances in DC-related media. He is portrayed by ...

and

Jefferson Jackson J.A.K.E. 1 J.A.K.E. 2 J'onn J'onzz M'yrnn J'onzz M'yrnn J'onzz is the father of the twin brothers J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter and Ma'alefa'ak. His first appearance was in ''Martian Manhunter'' (vol. 2) #3 (August 2001). M'yrnn J'onzz i ...

respectively, in the previous seasons. This was the last season where Tala Ashe portrayed Zari Tomaz as a main character. She would return in a reduced capacity in future seasons while a new version of Zari from an altered timeline was introduced in the fifth season.

Filming

Production for the season began on July 5, 2018, in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, and concluded on January 25, 2019.

Music

On April 16, 2019,

WaterTower Music WaterTower Music Inc. (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based ...

released "I Surrender", a single from the episode "Séance and Sensibility" for free. The single was performed by actors Tala Ashe, Sachin Bhatt, Ramona Young, Brandon Routh, Courtney Ford, Caity Lotz, and Maisie Richardson-Sellers.

Marketing

The main cast of the season as well as Phil Klemmer attended

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

on July 21, 2018, to promote the season. On October 15, 2018, Routh released a mock political ad on his Twitter page, voiced by Zano. The ad jokingly claimed that ''Arrow'', ''The Flash'', and ''Supergirl'' were trying to keep attention away from ''Legends of Tomorrow'', followed by many headlines as well as real and fake quotes praising the series.

Release

Broadcast

On June 20, 2018,

released its fall schedule, revealing that the series would move from the 8:00 pm Monday time-slot to the 9:00 pm time-slot, to serve as the lead-out to ''

''. The season began airing in the United States on The CW on October 22, 2018.

Home media

The season was made available for streaming on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in late May 2019.

Reception

Ratings

Critical response

The

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reports a 95% approval rating for the fourth season, with an average rating of 7.99/10 based on 94 reviews.

Accolades

, - , scope="row" rowspan="2" , 2019 , rowspan="2" ,

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...

, Choice TV Show: Action , ''Legends of Tomorrow'' , , , - , Choice TV Actor: Action ,

, ,

Notes

References

General references *

External links

* * {{Arrowverse 2018 American television seasons 2019 American television seasons Legends of Tomorrow seasons 2018 LGBTQ-related television 2019 LGBTQ-related television