Let it never be said that the coolness and historical importance of a particular movie or director can’t transcend time, space, and studio licenses. And why shouldn’t some of these real-life cultural touchstones make it into the fictional realms of superheroes and time travelers? Entertainment Weekly is reporting that George Lucas will appear as a character in the upcoming winter premiere of the CW’s comic book explosion series, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Following *SPOILERS* the fall finale in which it’s revealed that the long-missing Capt. Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) is in Hollywood making sci-fi movies in the ’60s, it stands to reason SOME famous figures should show up.
While it may sound like an attempt for a Warner Brothers-owned DC Comics property to cash-in on the Star Wars fever that happens every winter, it actually sounds like a pretty great idea for a plot: the time aberration in the ninth episode will make it so George Lucas (played as a young man by actor Matt Angel) quits film school before he can bring any of his amazing visions to the screen. This will have a direct impact on Ray Palmer/The Atom (Brandon Routh) and Nate Heywood/Steel (Nick Zano).
Legends‘ executive producer Marc Guggenheim explains it thusly: “As a result, he never makes Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark. As a result, Ray, who became an engineer because of Star Wars, and Nate, who became a historian because of Raiders, slowly start to lose their brilliance, because those things that inspired them to become who they are didn’t exist.” He also describes it as a kind of Flowers for Algernon situation for the two characters, referencing the book about a simple man given an experimental treatment to make him a genius but who eventually begins to regress, forgetting things he’d learned.
It’s going to be a zany romp, Guggenheim says, which fits fairly in-line with the kind of outrageous comic bookery that Legends has been tackling this season. And in truth, despite it being a bit silly, I like the idea that one person (who does get often derided these days because of certain prequels) and their career in storytelling can have an impact on physicists and archaeologists. Lucas clearly impacted comic book creators and TV writers, so why not the characters they write about?
Let us know your thoughts on Lucas meeting the Legends in the comments below!
Image: Joey Gannon
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and an avowed DC Comics fanboy. Follow him on Twitter!
