Spoilers ahead for Season 7, Episode 6 of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Deus Ex Latrina.” Read at your own risk!
Matt Ryan’s time as John Constantine on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow came to an end during Season 6. Though he is no longer portraying the occultist, he is playing the new character Dr. Gwyn Davies, a scientist trying to invent time travel, naturally. After meeting with the Legends in 1925, the bearded brainiac tries to help them get back to their own timeline, as they no longer have the Waverider to rely on. Ryan recently opened up about Dr. Gwyn’s story opening up with an important reveal in the latest episode.
Episode 706 features a vulnerable and beautiful moment between Dr. Gwyn and Zari where he reveals that he loved a man in his unit is beautiful and the way that the writers portrayed Dr. Gwyn is so important. Matt Ryan spoke to TVLine about the reveal, saying he was happy to play another LGBTQ+ character within the Legends of Tomorrow universe, and compared the characters' sexualities in relation to their timelines.
The funny thing was John would sleep with anyone or anything. I think in one of the animations that I did, there’s a line when he turns around and says, ‘Oh, my ex is there,’ and it’s King Shark. I love that about him, because he transcends any kind of sexuality that is around today. And [Gwyn’s story] is a little bit more specific and honed and rooted in some of the problems that people go through today.
One does wonder what Dr. Gwyn would think of King Shark. In any case, after it was thought that Dr. Gwyn had fixed the team's hand-crafted time machine, there were too many people aboard, and they ended up in an unfamiliar time and a place. Dr. Gwyn was rightfully upset about it not working, and then opened up to Zari 1.0 about a soldier in his World War I unit getting killed, and how close they were.
With Matt Ryan portraying both Constantine and Dr. Gwyn, two completely different and unrelated characters, it’s interesting to see how the representation still flows throughout . The backstory for Dr. Gwyn is already more delicate and less overtly salacious than Constantine's, and Ryan went on about changes in societal norms from the 1920s to today, in regards to why Dr. Gwyn may not have felt that same sense of security in his own time.
The interesting dichotomy of him being religious and his love for a man, there’s a huge conflict there that a lot of people go through today. and telling that story in the framework of 1925 and a man who’s tightened by the ropes of society is a really interesting way to explore that. I just felt like that’s a really important story to tell, and if we can mine that and get under that, then that’s a really good thing.
Dr. Gwyn’s story has already been one of the better parts of Season 7 of Legends of Tomorrow so far, and seeing how this story will move forward will definitely be something to look forward to. Hopefully he'll be able to find peace in one way or another.
