Why Was Legends of Tomorrow Cancelled and Can It Be Saved?

The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow first kicked off in January of 2016, teaming up characters that had already been introduced in the Arrow-verse while also bringing some new ones into the fold.  It started out a bit uneven as the show tried to get its footing and figure out its direction, but by its third season it had hit its stride and had developed a notable fan following.  And while it was never one of the higher-rated CW shows, it did well enough for that network and in its seventh season it had actually improved on its numbers from the prior year.  But despite that, the show was cancelled along with quite a number of other genre entries from the network like Batwoman, Naomi, Legacies, and more.

Legends of Tomorrow amassed 110 episodes over its seven-year run which is more than enough for it to carry on in encore runs in syndication.  It also wrapped up many of its storylines by the end of its seventh year, though it did leave the heroes in a bit of a predicament.  The showrunners definitely had plans to continue into an eighth season, but apparently they had been told of the pending sale of the network and were encouraged to approach the season finale as if it were the series finale.

In a normal year, Legends of Tomorrow would have almost certainly been renewed as would most of The CW’s slate based on the network’s tendency to renew the majority of the shows in its line-up.  But currently, co-owners Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount are discussing selling a majority stake in the network with the Nextar Media Group as the likely buyers.  That led to many more cancellations than usual, allegedly to clear the underperforming shows off the schedule. But if that was the real reason for the cancellations, why were Riverdale and Nancy Drew renewed when their ratings were notably lower than shows like LoT, Batwoman, and Legacies.  And Kung Fu was in the same performance range as the latter shows, but it got a third-season nod.

I theorized previously that shows with notable LGTBQ+ representation may not have been as attractive to the conservative-leaning Nextar, and if you look at the list of cancelled shows, there is a fair amount of representation getting wiped from the schedule.  This is simply conjecture at this point, but considering the irrational homophobia that has overtaken the right wing of late, it certainly seems possible. And it would be rather disappointing if The CW–a network that has championed LGTBQ+ representation for so long–committed a “kill your gays” moment simply to placate invalid biases.

For many fans of Legends of Tomorrow, the obvious next step for the show is to continue on HBO Max since both the series and the streaming service are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.  Unfortunately, it is not that simple.  Netflix has the streaming rights to past seasons of many of the Arrow-verse shows such as Legends of Tomorrow.  And they perform quite well for that streamer.  I am also going to guess there was something written into the Netflix contract guaranteeing that they have exclusive streaming rights to the show beyond any CW-branded platform.  So it will almost certainly be a few years at least before those rights expire and LoT can move to HBO Max.

So in the meantime, if fans want another season of the show, the best bet is to continue to lobby the network for at least a final year.  Riverdale‘s upcoming seventh season will be its last and it seems likely that The Flash will wrap up as well.  One more season of Legends of Tomorrow, even a shortened one, will give the creative team the opportunity to send the show off with a better sense of resolution.  And perhaps set it up for a return on HBO Max when the rights to the show revert back to Warner Bros. Discovery.  The format of the show and the character line-up is flexible enough that it could go on for years.

The fans have definitely done their part so far, already stumping for it at the behest of its writers before the cancellation.  Since then they have set up a main directory site for the campaign to save the show along with a Twitter page and Instagram Page.  There is an online petition which is approaching 30K signatures as of this writing, and they have raised money to do things like posting a billboard in downtown New York City and flying a banner over Warner Bros. studios.  These efforts will not go unnoticed, and even if the final season does not happen on The CW, it’s possible the show could continue on HBO Max down the road (Daredevil is getting a revival on Disney+ after getting cancelled five years ago by Netflix).  So the fans should keep hope alive and continue to fight for the return of their favorite show.

Did you continue to watch Legends of Tomorrow through its seventh season and will you help with efforts to save the show?  Chime in with your comments below.

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