Legacies gives us hope that we don’t have to say goodbye to the world of The Vampire Diaries or The Originals anytime soon, especially after last nights series finale for the latter. But even though it’s a spin-off and even though we’ll get nods here and there to the shows that came before it, Legacies is a world of it’s own that hopes to stand with and apart its predecessors.
We got a chance to speak with the creator of Legacies, Julie Plec, and the notable actors Danielle Russell and Matthew Davis who play Hope Mikaelson and Alaric Saltzman. Immediately they wanted us to know how different Legacies is.
“The Originals is a show about a family dynasty over a millennia. And to be able to say that this is the next generation of that family, it’s so cool.” Julie Plec asserted before continuing with, And then Mystic Falls has had centuries of vampire history and now to say, “We’ve got the new generation coming back into this town that has basically had its history rewritten so they don’t even know what that town has been through. It’s so fun. I’m really enjoying it.”
And while that is exciting for those who have never watched the original content, Plec is having a lot of fun dropping easter eggs here and there across the Legacies world, “We’re having a lot of fun with it. So it’s like, if you haven’t watched the show you wouldn’t even notice what we’re doing. But if you have you can kind of get a wink and a nod out of it.”
Danielle Russell, who plays Hope Mikaelson, also explained that, “It’s a different show. It’s an homage to The Vampire Diaries and The Originals. But is it’s own entity. But Hope has changed quite a lot from The Originals. From 15 to 17, a lot has happened so she definitely takes on a new role that she’s never taken on before.”
Hope is going to also continue fighting her “nature.” She comes from a long line of people who have done bad things and she’s a tribrid on top of everything else. It’s not going to be easy for her. “I don’t know if Hope will ever feel fully comfortable in who she is because there’s so much going on. And her nature is always telling her to do evil and to do wrong. So she’s constantly fighting those inner demons that are telling her to be evil and to succumb.”
So yes, it’s a story about a bunch of teens. And yes, a lot of them are creatures of the night with teeth or magic that can tear you apart. But it’s also a show about choosing to be good in the face of evil. And we could always do with a little bit more of that!
Check out our San Diego Comic Con interviews with Julie Plec, Danielle Russell, and Matthew Davis (where he basically answers everything about this show and makes us even more excited for it!):
Legacies premieres October 25, 2018 at 9/8c on The CW.
