Following the murder of his wife and son at the hands
of gloriously named supervillain Vandal Savage in the year 2066, time traveller
Rip Hunter returns to 2016 to assemble an eclectic group of superheroes in a
last ditch effort to save humanity and prevent Savage from conquering the
world.

Fans
of parent series’ Arrow and The Flash will already be familiar with Hunter’s
squad; Ray Palmer (Atom), Jefferson Johnson and Dr Stein (both halves of
Firestorm), Mick Rory and Leonard Snart (Heat Wave and Captain Cold), Carter
Hall and Kendra Saunders (Hawkman and Hawkgirl), as well as the welcome
resurrection of Sara Lance (White Canary) – but the question remains: with such
an abundance of Marvel/DC products onscreen, can this PG equivalent of the
Suicide Squad find its place amongst an already oversaturated market?

The
answer is a resounding YES. Greg Berlanti (Arrow,
The Flash, Supergirl) knows his audience and isn’t afraid to give them what
they want: a colourful, funny and action-packed series that doesn’t pretend to
be more than it is and employs the talents of its collective cast to full
effect

The
series itself only consists of 16 episodes, but thankfully the story moves at
such a pace that there is no time for any filler episodes. Plenty of humour
punctuates the fight scenes, which grow thrillingly more inventive as the
season progresses towards an explosive finale. Whilst overall light and
family-friendly in tone, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security; it
only takes until the second episode before the team suffers the loss of one of
their own. Inevitably with such a large ensemble there is a healthy dose of
romantic subplots peppered with tension that divides the team and threatens the
mission. 

Arrowheads
will be pleased with the regular cameos from the originals (a doff of the cap
in particular goes to Stephen Amell’s portrayal of a battle-hardened Oliver
Queen in standout episode ‘Star City 2046’), as the team lurches unsteadily
from one time period to the next. Arthur Duvall is a swaggering bundle of
charisma as leader Rip (Duvall himself knowing a thing or two about time travel
shenanigans thanks to his stint as Dr Who’s assistant Rory opposite Matt
Smith), and his interactions with ship’s computer Gideon are a continuous
highlight.

As
with all shows where time-travel is the central theme, the omnipresent warnings
of doom should the timeline be disrupted become a little wearing, though
there’s enough spice to prevent it resembling an old episode of ‘Crime
Traveller’ (look it up, millennials). Savage, Chronos and the Time Masters are
effective antagonists, though the series has yet to replicate the true villainy
of Arrow’s Biggest Bad, Slade Wilson.

With
DC’s cinematic exploits delivering one critically mauled production after
another, it‘s the Arrowverse that continually provides the strongest
competition to the Marvel juggernaut. ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ is a fine string to
that bow. 

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW SEASON 1 / CERT: 15 DIRECTOR AND SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: ARTHUR DARVILL, VICTOR GARBER, BRANDON ROUTH, FRANZ DRAMEH, DOMINIC PURCELL, CAITY LOTZ / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW