There’s just two episodes left to go in Legends of Tomorrow Season 7 (which premiered last October), but if you thought this batch of episodes was out of surprises, think again. It’s been announced that Scrubs vet Donald Faison will appear in the Season 7 finale. While his character hasn’t been officially identified yet, the description that’s been provided for him sounds an awful lot like a DC Comics superhero who’s been a fan-favorite for several decades now: Booster Gold.
How Does Donald Faison Fit Into Legends Of Tomorrow?
The Legends of Tomorrow Season 7 finale, titled “Knocked Down, Knocked Up,” will air on Wednesday, March 2, and Donald Faison will appear in it as a mystery character who’s seeking “fame, fortune and glory.” Here’s the official description for this individual that The CW shared with EW:
The Legends first encounter this character at a different phase of his career whose golden years are in the rearview mirror. He is good guy deep down; his ego is looking for a boost that only fame, fortune, and glory can provide. While he claims to have been recruited to work for a mysterious time organization, he wasn't offered much of a choice in the matter. As an unauthorized time traveler with high-profile aspirations, he developed a mischievous streak and cuts a few corners along the way to achieving his dreams. He knows all about the Legends of Tomorrow and finds them inspiring because they are the kind of heroes who started at the ground floor, as opposed to inheriting their powers from an alien planet, a spider bite, or wealthy parents. But the big question is whether his respect for the team is going to be able to help the Legends out of hot water or get them into hotter water!
Legends of Tomorrow showrunners Phil Klemmer and Keto Shimizu also said in an official statement that seeing Donald Faison with the show’s starring characters was “an absolute, side-splitting joy.” They also teased that if Legends of Tomorrow scores an eighth season, they “look forward to telling many more stories with him” and their “lovable misfits.” In addition to his run as Turk in all of Scrubs’ nine seasons, Faison’s notable credits include Clueless, Remember the Titans, Uptown Girls, Kick-Ass 2, The Exes and Star Wars Resistance. He’s also currently the lead voice and showrunner of Adult Swim’s Alabama Jackson.
Why Does Donald Faison’s Legends Character Sound Like Booster Gold?
For those who are unfamiliar with Booster Gold, in DC Comics lore, Michael Jon Carter hails from the 25th century and was a star quarterback in college until he was caught deliberately losing games to earn money. Expelled and disgraced, Carter took a job at a museum that had displays chronicling superhero history and also featured cool devices like a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring and a force field belt that once belonged to Brainiac 5.
After stealing some of these devices and a security robot named Skeets who had historical records stretching between the 20th and 25th centuries, Carter used Rip Hunter’s time sphere to travel to the present. His new goal: become a superhero so he could achieve fame and fortune, and while he didn’t choose to be called Booster Gold (he originally wanted to go by Goldstar), the name stuck with the public. Booster Gold is well known as one of the original members of the Justice League International, and outside of the comics, he’s appeared in Justice League Unlimited, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Smallville, to name just a few projects. Back in 2019, the script for a Booster Gold movie was passed along to Warner Bros., but there’s been no update about its status since then.
Now, going off the description provided for Donald Faison’s mystery character in Legends of Tomorrow, obviously it doesn’t entirely match Booster Gold’s traditional history. That said, this individual being an unauthorized time traveler who doesn’t hesitate to take shortcuts to improve his standing in life, but is still a good guy deep down, fits Booster Gold to a T. Faison is also no stranger to playing boastful characters, so he’d be an excellent fit to bring Michael Jon Carter to life in the Arrowverse.
If it’s confirmed that Donald Faison is playing Booster Gold, I’ll be interested to see if this version of the character has any familial ties to Rip Hunter (played by Doctor Who’s Arthur Darvill in Legends of Tomorrow’s first three seasons), as his comics counterpart eventually learned that he’s Rip’s father. It should also be mentioned that Faison is also attached to play Professor Utonium in The CW’s live-action take on The Powerpuff Girls. However, after the pilot was shot and the script leaked online to negative reception, the network decided to rework it. If Faison does sign on as a series regular for the hypothetical Legends of Tomorrow Season 8, then it stands to reason the live-action Powerpuff Girls series would need to recast his role, assuming it still moves forward.
There are just two episodes left to go in Legends of Tomorrow Season 7’s run, but rest assured, we’ll let you know if the show returns for Season 8, as well as if Donald Faison joins the main cast. For now, you can use our 2022 TV schedule to keep track of what shows will premiere later in the year.
