We sat down with Peyton Alex Smith (Rafael Waithe) and Aria Shahghasemi (Landon Kirby) at San Diego Comic-Con to talk all things Legacies. They told us what they could about a world without Hope, the bond formed between their characters, and Shahghasemi even name dropped Iron Man.
When it comes to a world without Hope Mikaelson, the one who solved all the problems and saved the day more often than not, Shahghasemi described the general essence to be that similar to the Dark Ages. Smith went on with more detail, “Malivore’s been destroyed. But if something does come, it’s kind of that feeling of danger. Like, can we handle this without Hope?”
That’s surely one of the biggest questions on our minds heading into the new season. It is going to be very interesting to watch the other students adapt their problem-solving skills to make up for the one they can’t even remember that they lost in Hope.
Shahghasemi then drew a very important comparison between Hope Mikaelson and Iron Man himself, Tony Stark. As avid fans of Marvel and the MCU, this made us extremely happy to hear. After warning that it’s been four months since Avengers: Endgame’s release, meaning spoiler warning aren’t as necessary any longer, Shahghasemi said, “I imagine it was like when Iron Man died in Avengers: Endgame.There’s this extremely important figure in the Avengers and now he’s gone and they have to find a way to move on, because they have no choice. It might not be easy.”
The Super Squad are the Avengers that Hope left behind, just as Tony did after his heroic sacrifice. Just as we move into Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe without Earth’s best defender, we are also moving into season two of Legacies without the badass, tribrid leader of the Super Squad. Things are definitely going to be different.
The topic then changed to the bond that Landon and Rafael share and how it will evolve in season two. Since most of Landon’s family has been consumed by Malivore and therefore wiped from the collective conscious, Shahghasemi told us Landon “…grabs on to taking care of Rafael and that’s sort of what he uses as an anchor.” Rafael could surely use the help since he is stuck in his wolf form, since Hope isn’t there to bring him back.
Luckily for Rafael, it seems like the brotherhood between Landon and Rafael is stronger than the conflicts that have been thrown at them. Surely season two will bring more challenges their way, but we’re confident that they will make it through together. Smith and Shahghasemi seem confident in their characters’ relationship as well.
That’s not all we talked about with Peyton Alex Smith and Aria Shahghasemi. We also discussed possible Phoenix powers, the chances of Rafael remembering Hope, how important Landon and Rafael’s relationship is, and so much more.
Watch our full interview with Peyton Alex Smith and Aria Shahghasemi below!