When it comes to character evolution on television, you’re always looking for how these characters progress throughout the course of a season. As an audience, we’re not looking for perfection. We’re looking for flawed characters that really have a ton of room to grow. But most importantly, we want to see that growth. When it comes to Legends of Tomorrow’s Mick Rory and Nate Heywood, those are two that certainly have evolved from season 2 heading into season 3.
We spoke with Legends of Tomorrow stars Dominic Purcell and Nick Zano at San Diego Comic-Con last month, where they talked about how their characters have progressed from the previous season. For Mick, we’re beginning to delve more into the good side. For Nate, we’re going to see him embrace being a superhero.
Mick Rory is the perfect example of how a character can go from misunderstood to understood with appropriate context. In the first season, Mick was teased as the bad guy. Nothing really exciting about the stereotypical antagonist. But over the course of season 2, we’ve begun to peel back the layers of Mick’s character as he’s been affected by his crew on the Waverider.
“He’s slowly becoming more – the crew are becoming his family,” Purcell said. “Begrudgingly so. And he’s finding himself falling more and more – and he’s having much more affection for the crew. Whereas with the last two seasons he was always on the outer, and I guess there’s still that element to him – you’re never going to lose that edge that Mick has. He has a lot more bad than good, but now we’re seeing a little more good.”
Watch our full interview with Purcell below:
While Zano couldn’t give us any spoilers regarding Nate with the upcoming season, he did give us a sense of the direction his character is headed. And after a season of discovery – where Nate discovered his heritage and abilities and really started gelling with the team – it sounds like we’re going to get a much more assured Nate Heywood when season 3 begins.
“He’s doubling down and being a superhero,” Zano said, “and he’s really enjoying the fact that he’s a superhero. This is his dream… All of his dreams are coming true. And he’s actually really good at it.”
Watch our full interview with Zano below:
Legends of Tomorrow season 3 premieres Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 9/8c on The CW.
Stay tuned for more Legends of Tomorrow interviews from SDCC!
