In its early days, Legends of Tomorrow was intended to be an anthology show, with storylines isolated to each given season and different lineups being showcased in each subsequent year. Of course, plans soon changed as viewers became attached to certain characters, but as time has gone on, we have seen a fair amount of heroes come and go.
A recent example of this would be Franz Drameh’s Jefferson Jackson, someone who’d been around since the pilot episode. After the other half of Firestorm, Victor Garber’s Martin Stein, exited the series, Drameh soon followed suit, as the writers may have not been able to figure out a way to keep his character around sans superpowers.
Fortunately, Jax’s position on the Waverider was recently filled by none other than Kid Flash (Keiynan Lonsdale), with Matt Ryan’s John Constantine also slated to join in the action in season 4. And, as it turns out, at least one more person has been added to the roster.
To be more specific, the newest addition comes in the form of Ava Sharpe, the Time Bureau director played by Jes Macallan. Perhaps this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given how often she appeared in season 3, but it’s somewhat difficult to contemplate the need for this character being around for another year.
Before we examine the situation any further, let’s read what executive producer and showrunner Phil Klemmer had to say to Entertainment Weekly:
“Her character arc was a bit of a slow burn this season, and yet each episode revealed a new facet of her character. She’s been alternately funny, poignant, engaging, endearing, and kick-ass this season — and yet I know for a fact that we haven’t hit all of Jes’s hidden gears as an actor. We are lucky to have a whole new season in which to find them. It’s not every actor who can find the emotional heart of a storyline that features John Constantine, a chicken, and a severed human foot. Thank God we found Jes Macallan.”
Honest as his statement was, one has to wonder if Ava will co-opt the superhero name of an already known DC character, or if she’ll continue on as is. Hopefully we’ll learn more about the truth behind her during next week’s finale, but I’m kind of suspecting that she’ll be a sort of replacement for Rip Hunter going forward, as Arthur Darvill seems to be on in an increasingly diminished capacity.
Speaking of the Legends of Tomorrow season 3 finale, that’ll air next Monday, April 9 on The CW, so be sure to tune in.