SPOILERS for DC’s upcoming ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ below, beware!
‘Legends of Tomorrow’ is fast approaching, and with it there are sure to be a slew of questions about how exactly time-travel works in the Arrowverse (it still is not that clear even after ‘The Flash’ has time-traveled about 3 times now). Luckily, the producers of the show have recently sat down to discuss time-travel and the rules they have set forth to help keep everything in line. According to producer Greg Berlanti:
“We try to exist by the rules we establish for ourselves. Our real goal is to make something emotionally true and truthful. Whenever we can have conversations about time travel, I always ask my questions in terms of Back to the Future or 12 Monkeys and use other examples that have preexisted. As Andrew [Kreisberg] says, as far as we know, time travel is not real. If there were an actual rulebook we could read and learn, we would follow that. We try and follow whatever rules we establish for ourselves. All the characters are learning as they go along. As we go along and establish rules, some of which we’ve established on Flash, the audience is learning it too.”
One rule that the show-runners established early on is that characters cannot return to events in which they participated. Show-runner Phil Klemmer explains the reasoning behind this rule below:
“We make rules that make good drama. We gave up our Get Out of Jail Free card so it wouldn’t become Groundhog Day where if someone died we’d just keep going back again and again. It’s important to have consequences and real deaths on the show.”
When asked about deciding to launch an ambitious new show like ‘Legends of Tomorrow,’ which features a complicated premise like time-travel, DC chief Geoff Johns explained:
“I think as long as all the shows, first of all they’ve all got to be great, but they each explore something different. As long as they’re great shows, personally I don’t think there is a saturation point. There is a point where you say we feel like we’re covering enough where we’ve got enough great shows out there that you don’t want to have all superhero shows. I think ti’s just like the comics. There are hundreds published a year. Each one has a different thematic, world and tone. Some are solo characters, some are teams. The ones that survive are about different worlds they explore and are metaphors for real life. That’s what superheroes are.”
Johns also spoke on the overall themes of the show, and the pilot, which are best illustrated by the fact that Rip Hunter tells all of the characters in the pilot that they will be “legends” in the future, and then admits he was lying at the end of the pilot.
“The metaphor is destiny. You can see that right in the pilot. Is my life going to matter? When you’re told, ‘You guys are going to make an impact on life’ and then you’re told you actually don’t make an impact on life, I think that’s a really sobering, challenging thing to hear. I can’t think of one person that would say, ‘I never think about the impact I have on life.’”
What are your thoughts on time-travel and destiny in the Arrowverse? Are they jumping the shark? Or will these rules help keep everything in line? Share your opinions below in the comments!
Source: Slash Film
