DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is already known for bringing to the limelight some of the quirkier, more obscure characters in the DC Universe. We’ve seen appearances by Jonah Hex and Chronos, who aren’t exactly household names like Batman or even Bizarro.
Luckily for the TV show, the DC Universe is bursting at the seams with countless superheroes and characters that would seem new to the average viewer but welcomed by fans. Some of these characters would actually fit in nicely with the time travel theme of Legends of Tomorrow and even replace some of the current members.
Here are 15 Obscure Heroes That Should Appear On Legends Of Tomorrow.
15. Captain Atom
Originally a Charlton Comics character, later owned by DC Comics, Captain Atom is a 1960s Air Force officer, Nathaniel Adam, who took part in an experiment to test the durability of a crashed alien spaceship. The explosion resulting from detonating a nuke under the spaceship hurled Captain Atom into modern times, with the alien metal bonded to his body and granting him the superpower to control energy.
If he were to appear in Legends of Tomorrow, Captain Atom should be the post-Crisis version mentioned above to take advantage of the man-out-of-time angle. The team could meet him in the 1960s and be responsible for transporting Captain Atom decades into the future. Whether or not he joins the team or even appears elsewhere in the Arrowverse would depend on the reaction to his appearance by fans.
14. The Creeper
Jack Ryder is an outspoken TV talk show host who was left mortally wounded by mobsters. His life was saved when he was injected with a serum and implanted with a device that granted him superhuman healing, agility and strength, plus a twisted split personality where Ryder thinks that he and the Creeper are two different people. Think of him as an early version of Deadpool mixed with Harley Quinn.
Adding the Creeper to the mismatched team in Legends of Tomorrow, at least for a few episodes, would throw an element of the bizarre in the show. His irrational behavior could resonate with viewers and the Creeper can become the Arrowverse version of Harley Quinn or the Joker and bring in more viewers to the show.
13. OMAC
The producers of Legends of Tomorrow should go with Jack Kirby’s original concept and not the current cyborg solider motif lurking around the current DC Universe. OMAC (or the One-Man Army Corps) is basically a futuristic version of Captain America. In fact, the concept was derived from a story that Kirby conjured up about Captain America set in the future, but never used during his tenure at Marvel Comics. In a future dominated by corporations, Buddy Blank is an Average Joe who is transformed by Brother Eye, an AI satellite, into the super strong and tough OMAC to fight for the Global Peace Agency.
It should be pointed out that OMAC had an Easter egg in the third season of Arrow, when Ray Palmer was still working on his ATOM suit. During the early planning stages the suit was actually designated as OMAC instead of ATOM (Advanced Technology Operating Mechanism). Legends of Tomorrow could play off this trivia by having OMAC somehow connected to Palmer’s work.
12. Major Bummer
The slacker ’90s lives on in Legends of Tomorrow with Major Bummer!
Lou Martin was your typical young slacker who was accidentally endowed with superpowers from some dimwitted alien college students. Now a reluctant superhero, Major Bummer stumbles through life, fighting crime only when he has to, and slowly learns about the whole great responsibility motif in a roundabout way.
The short-lived comic book of the same name featured fantastical concepts like Nazi T-Rexes from a parallel dimension and a time-destroying alien. These outlandish ideas should fit in nicely with Legends of Tomorrow, if the show ever got the budget to go with the scripts. Also, the comedic nature of the Major Bummer stories would complement the tongue-in-cheek aura that the show gives off.
11. Enemy Ace
Loosely based on the Red Baron, Enemy Ace was Hans von Hammer, a German World War I fighter pilot who was a classic anti-hero, since he fought against the Allies. Despite his allegiance to the German military, the aristocratic von Hammer fancied himself as a noble knight who was haunted by the horrors of war.
Even though he doesn’t sport any superpowers like most of the names on this list, Enemy Ace would be an natural character to appear in a Legends of Tomorrow episode set during World War I. However, given the budget of the show, it’s doubtful that much from that time period would be shown in an episode, let alone von Hammer’s flying aerobatics. But set an episode in that era and his appearance would be a great opportunity.
10. Kamandi
Back in the 1970s, DC Comics tried to get the rights to produce comics based on the popular Planet of the Apes franchise, but failed. Luckily for DC, the comic book giant Jack Kirby was working for them at the time and came up with a similar concept of a future post-apocalyptic Earth populated by savage humans and evolved, sentient animals that ruled the planet. Kamandi is the sole teenage survivor of a human underground outpost that had access to information about the ancient human-led Earth. Setting out with his friends, including mutants and sympathetic animals, Kamandi explored the post-apocalyptic Earth hoping to restore human civilization.
If this time period is visited by the heroes in Legends of Tomorrow, care has to be made not to make the setting look too cheesy with all the talking bipedal animals. But putting aside such trepidations, Kamandi’s future world would be an interesting place for the team to visit.
9. Warlord
Think of an updated version of John Carter set in an underground civilization and you have Warlord. Created by Mike Grell, Warlord is actually Travis Morgan, a Vietnam Vet who journeys into underground world of Skartaris that is populated by dinosaurs and a pre-civilization society. Soon after, he becomes the greatest hero of Skartaris as he fought against evil sorcerers.
Obviously inspired by the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the sword and sorcery setting of Warlord is a fascinating concept that can be explored in the show. Think of how Ray Palmer and Martin Stein would react to seeing live dinosaurs or imagine how Sara Lance would quickly take to the gratuitous sword fights in the mystical land of Skataris.
8. The Demon
After his Fourth World lineup of comic books were cancelled, Jack Kirby was tasked to create a horror comic book even though he had no interest in the genre. He came up with Etrigan, a demon with magical powers, who was summoned by Merlin to help fight for King Arthur against Morgaine le Fey. Merlin also bonded Etrigan to one of Arthur’s knights, Jason Blood because Merlin had difficulty understanding the Demon. After the bonding, Blood became immortal and so he and Etrigan spent the next few centuries battling le Fey and other supernatural forces.
If Etrigan were to appear in Legends of Tomorrow, it would be under a story line where the heroes of the show were to time travel to King Arthur’s era. As usual, Vandal Savage will be there, but now allied with le Fey.
7. Guardian
This Golden Age superhero was created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon and can be considered a variant of their other more famous creation, Captain America. Jim Harper was a police officer in Metropolis’ Suicide Slum who became a costumed adventurer that fought crime with a shield. The character went through many revisions and updates through the years including his being cloned after his death.
If the Guardian were to appear in Legends of Tomorrow, all references to Metropolis and Superman will have to be tossed out. But that should not be a problem in the Arrowverse, since many events and characters in the proper DC Universe now seem to originate in Arrow’s Star City or The Flash’s Central City. To make things interesting, the Guardian presented on Legends ofTomorrow should be the Golden Age version that lived in the 1940s, which will be a time period for the team to visit.
6. Hawk & Dove
The crime-fighting duo of Hawk and Dove are two heroes who derive their powers from mystical sources. As their code names imply, Hawk and Dove had differing views on violence and reason and the identities were assumed by many different people. Perhaps the best known incarnation was the duo featured in the DC event Armageddon 2001, which was published in the DC annuals of 1991. In the story arc, one of the DC heroes will become the despotic villain Monarch in the future and it is up to Waverider (who inspired the name of Rip Hunter’s time ship in the show) to discover Monarch’s true identity.
As the story played out, Monarch murdered Dove (who was Dawn Granger), which enraged Hawk (Hank Hall). He killed Monarch in retaliation, but found out that Monarch was a future version of himself. Worse than that was that Hall began to carry out the events that will turn him into Monarch. Given the time-travel angle of this storyline, Armageddon 2001 can be adapted into Legends of Tomorrow and feature Hawk and Dove.
5. Metamorpho
Also called the Element Man, Rex Mason was exposed to a radioactive meteorite and given the ability to turn into any element, as well as assorted combinations of elements. However, Mason was unable to look “normal,” leading to lots of pathos in his stories about wanting to become human again. From his first appearance in The Brave and the Bold # 57, Metamorpho was a decidedly second-string hero who nonetheless has a cult following and continues to pop up in comic books.
As a natural misfit, Metamorpho would make a perfect addition to the team roster in Legends of Tomorrow if the show’s producers ever decide to bring in a new… element into the show. Rip Hunter or one of the other teammates could entice him to join them as they travel through history to find a cure for his condition.
4. Elongated Man
After drinking a formula based on a soft drink (!), Ralph Dibney gained the ability to stretch his body like rubber like Marvel Comics’ Mr. Fantastic. Originally a supporting character in the Silver Age Flash’s comic book, Ralph revealed his identity to the public and got married. Later on, his wife Sue’s death in the controversial Identity Crisis mini-series set this light-hearted hero down a torturous path.
Elongated Man is a superhero that isn’t tied down to a specific time period like many of the others on this list. He can debut in any of the Arrowverse shows and become another eccentric hero who join the ranks of the Legends of Tomorrow. Elongated Man’s angle would be that after learning of his future wife’s tragic murder, he joins the team to prevent this occurrence.
3. Sgt. Rock
Sergeant Frank Rock of Easy Company is your classic hard-boiled army soldier who fought in World War II in North Africa and Europe. Ever since his first full appearance in Our Army at War # 83 back in 1959, Sgt. Rock has been a cult favorite among war comics aficionados with his gritty stories of combat and tougher-than-nails demeanor.
It’s easy to imagine Legends of Tomorrow having episodes taking place during World War II, as the main characters encounter Sgt. Rock and Easy Company. Then they could all team up to fight a Vandal Savage-led Nazi unit and, for added measure, the producers can also use other DC Comics war characters like the Losers, the Unknown Soldier and the crew of the Haunted Tank. Then they can all join forces with Easy Company and the show’s characters. It would be like The Expendables if it took place during World War II and had superpowered heroes.
2. Doctor Fate
The original Golden Age Doctor Fate was Kent Nelson who in 1920 traveled to Egypt at a young age and accidentally revived Nabu the Wise, who then teaches him how to be a sorcerer. Twenty years later, Kent returns to the U.S. and fights crime using magical powers and became a founding member of the Justice Society.
This mystical hero already exists in the Arrowverse. His golden helmet was spotted by eagle-eyed viewers in the pilot episode of Constantine as a trinket in the sorcerer’s cluttered home. Being that magic already exists in the Arrowverse, having Doctor Fate show up wouldn’t be a large stretch. In fact, his backstory about being trained in the mystical arts in Egypt would mesh quite well with the story arc of Vandal Savage and Hawkwoman, since both characters have their origins based in Ancient Egypt.
1. Legion of Superheroes
Any self-respecting comic book fan knows who the Legion of Superheroes are, but the average CW viewer has probably never heard of them. They are a superhero team from the distant future who often visited Superboy in the pages of Adventure Comics. The first members seen were Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl. Later on, the teenage Superman wound up becoming one of the core members of the team, which included Braniac 5, Ferro Lad, Phantom Girl, Chameleon Boy and Karate Kid.
While the Legion did appear in Smallville, with the ban of Superman and Batman in the Arrowverse shows, Superboy couldn’t make an appearance, however this doesn’t preclude the Legion from appearing themselves. In fact, episodes of The Flash and Supergirl have featured a Legion of Superheroes Easter egg in the form of their well-known Legion ring. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the Legion does turn up in a future episode of Legends of Tomorrow.
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There are much more characters in the rich DC Universe that can make their way into Legends of Tomorrow. Is there anyone else in particular that should be featured? Let us know below!
