Pilot (Legends of Tomorrow)
"Pilot" is the two-part series premiere of the American science fiction series Legends of Tomorrow. Directed by Glen Winter and written by series creators Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Phil Klemmer, and Andrew Kreisberg. The episodes were shot in Vancouver, only one set was built, and the majority of filming was done on location. The episodes star an ensemble cast of Arthur Darvill, Franz Drameh, Victor Garber, Falk Hentschel, Caity Lotz, Dominic Purcell, Ciara Renée, Brandon Routh, and Wentworth Miller.
In "Pilot", Rip Hunter recruits several heroes and villains to help him defeat the immortal warrior Vandal Savage has subjugated the planet. "Pilot, Part 1" premiered on January 21, 2016, to an audience of 3.21 million viewers, followed by "Pilot, Part 2" on January 28 to an audience of 2.32 million. The episodes were broadcast on The CW to generally positive reviews from critics who felt the series had a lot of potential.
Plot
Part 1
In 2166, the immortal warrior Vandal Savage has conquered the entire planet. In an effort to save humanity, Time Master Rip Hunter travels back to 2016 to assemble a group of superheroes and supervillains to stop Savage's rise to power: Ray Palmer, Sara Lance, Jefferson Jackson and Martin Stein, Mick Rory, Leonard Snart, Carter Hall, and Kendra Saunders. Hunter takes them to 1975 to talk to Professor Boardman, a leading expert on Savage. While providing information on Savage, Boardman also reveals that he is the son of Kendra and Carter from one of their past reincarnations. Meanwhile, a time-traveling bounty hunter named Chronos attacks Hunter's ship, the Waverider. The team can regroup and escape, but not before Boardman is mortally wounded. The attack forces Hunter to reveal that Chronos is after him for stealing the Waverider and going on the mission against the Time Council's wishes, and that part of his quest is based on his desire for revenge on Savage for murdering his wife and son in 2166. All members agree to aid Hunter, who warns that time will resist the mission. In Norway in 1975, Savage is shown in possession of weapons of mass destruction.Part 2
Still in 1975, the team infiltrates a weapons auction, where Savage intends to sell the nuclear warhead. Savage becomes aware of their presence. They all escape, but not before a piece of Ray's suit is left behind. Angry at the recklessness, Hunter points out what happens and how the technology of Ray's suit will be used to create super weapons that lead to the destruction of Central City in 2016. The team splits up, with Stein, Jax, and Sara retrieving the missing piece of Ray's suit with the help of Stein's younger self, while Ray, Leonard, and Mick go in search of the dagger that killed Kendra and Carter in their first life. The dagger turns out to be in the home of Savage, who imprisons them and calls the rest of the team. Kendra and Carter go after Savage while the rest take on Savage's men. During the fight, Savage kills Carter with the dagger, revealing that only Kendra can wield it to kill him. She becomes injured, and the team is forced to retreat and plan a new strategy, determined to stop Savage.Production
"Pilot" was written by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer; it was directed by Glen Winter. The episode was titled pilot despite the series skipping the pilot phase and getting a "straight to series" order.In January 2015, it was revealed that the show would feature Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. The character was introduced in the third season of Arrow. The following month,Wentworth Miller, Victor Garber, and Caity Lotz were revealed to be reprising their roles from previous Arrowverse media in the series as Leonard Snart / Captain Cold, Martin Stein / Firestorm, and Sara Lance. It was also announced that Sara would be taking the name White Canary. The antagonist of the series was revealed to be Vandal Savage. In March, Dominic Purcell was revealed to be reprising his role as Mick Rory / Heatwave in the series. It was stated there would was three characters yet to be cast. One of whom, labeled as "the Traveler", was speculated to be Rip Hunter. At the end of the month, Arthur Darvill was cast as Rip, and Ciara Renée was cast as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl. In April 2015, Franz Drameh was cast as Jefferson "Jax" Jackson / Firestorm. In August 2015, the final member of the main cast was revealed to be Falk Hentschel as Carter Hall / Hawkman. According to Routh, for the first episodes of the series, Ray and Stein would have a "rivalry". This would be further complicate the dynamic between Jax and Stein.
Filming began on September 9, 2015. Both episodes were filmed back-to-back, in Vancouver, Canada. According to Winter, the only set built was the Waverider and majority of the episode was shot on location. He noted this was typical for pilots. In an interview with Comic Book Resources, he said that the "new facet for Legends was that there's no #1 on the call sheet. There are seven or eight leads," he found the hardest part of filming was not the action sequences, but working out the chemistry between the various actors. The fight scene at the auction was shot in one take; Winter stated it was his favorite part to film due to the technical elements involved.
Casper Crump appears as Vandal Savage. Several actors from Arrow made guest star appearances, including series lead Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, series regular Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, and Neal McDonough as Damien Darhk the primary villain of Arrow fourth season. McDonough additionally made a guest star appearance on The Flash. Peter Francis James appears as Aldus Boardman, the son of Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall in previous reincarnations.
Reception
In November 2015, Legends of Tomorrow was given a release window of January 2016. The premier was preceded by a two-part crossover between The Flash and Arrow, titled "Heroes Join Forces", which aired in December 2015. "Pilot" was released in two parts on The CW on January 21 and 28, 2016. The first part of the episode had a live audience of 3.21 million viewers with a 1.2/4 share of adults 18-49. The second part was viewed by 2.89 million, 320 thousand less than the first part, with a share of 1.1/3. By contrast, the third episode, "Blood Ties", was viewed by 2.32 million live viewers with a 0.9/3 share. When accounting for seven day DVR viewership, the episodes were seen by an additional 2.03 million and 1.64 million viewers respectively. The episodes were the two highest-viewed episodes of Legends of Tomorrow season one.Critical response
The pilot was well-received, with many critics feeling it had good potential. On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, "Pilot, Part 1" holds a 67% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.2/10 based on 18 reviews. The website's consensus reads that it "suffers from too many characters and too much exposition, but there's fun to be had in the chaos." "Pilot, Part 2" holds an 88% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.28/10 based on reviews from 17 critics. The consensus reads, "Legends sprints ahead in 'Part 2,' an exciting, action-packed episode that finishes setting up what could be one of the funnest comic book adaptations yet".Russ Burlingame, in an advanced review for ComicBook.com, praised it, saying the pilot "delivers a sharp, enjoyable pilot that's arguably the most attention-grabbing and entertaining from any of the current crop of superhero shows." Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the first part of the pilot episode a 7.7/10, praising the show's "epic scope", "fun character dynamics", and Arthur Darvill's performance. He gave the second part of the pilot an 8.4/10, saying it "improved in its sophomore episode thanks to great character dynamics and superhero action". Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club felt the second part was an improvement on the first, praising the action sequences and the comparative lack of exposition. However, he did find many of the problems with the first part were still present, including the poor characterization and the lack of chemistry between Carter and Kendra. He graded it a B.