‘Legends of Tomorrow’ Showrunner on Shocking Cancellation of the Show: “This Was Probably Our Hubris in a Way”

It’s been more than 2 years since the last episode of ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ aired. The show abruptly ended after seven seasons. Not even the creator of the show saw the end coming this is why it ended on a massive cliffhanger.

Fans campaigned for its renewal to tie up loose ends, sparked by disappointment over its shocking ending. Showrunner Shimizu expressed regret for not securing a resolution, citing contractual limitations. The introduction of Booster Gold in the finale aimed to sway the network’s decision. However, Warner Bros.’ reluctance to continue studio leases led to the cancellation.

Efforts to continue the series on HBO Max or Paramount+ were hindered by existing contracts. The possibility of incorporating the Legends’ storylines into ‘The Flash’ faced challenges due to episode limits and narrative constraints. Despite calls to save the series, industry figures like James Gunn, who soon became the co-chairman of DC Studios, focused on other priorities. Consequently, loose ends from ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ remained unresolved, impacting subsequent Arrowverse shows.

Now in her interview with ‘The Showrunner Whisperer’ Shimizu explained why the cancellation of the show shocked even her and why there was never a proper resolution to all the loose ends.

We knew of all the shake-ups happening, the potential sale and all of those things were coming as we were, again, very deep into writing and producing our season. It didn’t really seem like a possibility that we wouldn’t get a chance to wrap things up in a satisfying way, with at least half a season. Again, this was based on the decade-plus of precedent really set by The CW and them always giving shows a chance to end things their own way, even shows that didn’t have much of an audience. They’re always like ‘And there’s going to be eight episodes to wrap this up,’ so to us, and again, this was probably our hubris in a way – we just didn’t think that it was possible that we would get cut off at the knees without a chance to really make a satisfying conclusion.

The showrunner further added the show was canceled by the numbers people who most likely never watched the show but noticed that the math didn’t add up.

If we had known going in, we could have pivoted fairly gracefully into an ending that was still fun and irreverent but that would have felt more like an ending. It just happened too late that we were too busy pushing the season forward as we should have been, that’s our job, to really come to grips with the fact that all these shifts that were happening in offices far, far away from us and far, far away from the people who we talk to every day about story and about the direction of the show. These were numbers people, these were finance people, these are not people who ever watched our show or ever really cared. It was just people who looked at the math and said ‘No this doesn’t make sense, we don’t want to do these kinds of shows anymore, so goodbye.’

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