DC’s Canceled Mega-Hit Series Finds A New Home?
DC's Legends of Tomorrow could be saved by PlutoTV, which offered support for the series.
Last year, The CW pulled the plug on most of its Arrowverse shows including the long-running DC Comics series Legends of Tomorrow. Although the news was heartbreaking for fans, it wasn’t entirely unexpected after the network saw an ownership change and a shift in its business strategy. Still, fans have pleaded for another network or streamer to save the popular series, and according to Comic Book Resources, Pluto TV recently provided a glimmer of hope for diehard devotees.
Owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global, Pluto TV is a free ad-supported video streaming service offering over 250 channels of television and thousands of on-demand movies and shows. In a recent Twitter post, the company offered a positive reaction to the ongoing fan campaign to save the beloved DC superhero series. After thanking users for their suggestion to bring DC’s Legends of Tomorrow back on their platform, the streamer assured fans that their requests would be “forwarded to the appropriate team.”
Premiering in 2016, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow ran for seven seasons before it was canceled by The CW. It was one of several long-running Arrowverse shows, like The Flash and Arrow, to be canceled in the last couple of years. Batwoman, Stargirl, Supergirl, and Black Lightening were also programs that took place inside the shared universe which were axed in the wake of The CW’s change in ownership.
Initially, fans called for The CW and Warner Bros. Discovery to renew the DC series for another season to provide a more satisfying conclusion than the one they were given. Eventually, they turned to other streaming services to bring back DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. In fact, last November, a banner calling to “save” the series was spotted flying over the Netflix offices in California.
Shortly after the devastating news that DC’s Legends of Tomorrow wouldn’t be returning for an eighth season, co-showrunner Keto Shimizu defended The CW, insisting it wasn’t the network’s fault the Season 7 finale ended on a cliffhanger. She explained that she “played chicken” with the series renewal, but things didn’t work out quite how she expected. She said she remains hopeful that the story can live on “in another form.”
In the fan-favorite DC series, a time-traveling rogue, Rip Hunter, is tasked with recruiting a ragtag team of heroes and villains to attempt to prevent an apocalypse that could impact not only the planet but all time. The cast of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow includes Caity Lotz, Dominic Purcell, Nick Zano, Brandon Routh, Tala Ashe, Matt Ryan, and Olivia Swann. In addition to Marc Guggenheim and Phil Klemmer, the show was created by Greg Berlanti, who recently inked a megadeal with Warner Bros. Discovery to make long-lasting shows for the company.
Whether or not the canceled DC show winds up on Pluto TV remains to be seen. The streamer has certainly taken note of calls from fans to resuscitate the series. The service doesn’t have much in the way of original scripted content, thus renewing DC’s Legends of Tomorrow on its platform could serve to draw in more users.
