Legends of Tomorrow just filled one of the vacancies on the Waverider left by the departures of Martin Stein and Jax, and the hero joining the team should excite all Arrow-verse fans. CinemaBlend has learned Wally West, a.k.a. Kid Flash, is officially joining the cast of Legends of Tomorrow. Actor Keiynan Lonsdale is joining the time travel show as a series regular. While the casting means Kid Flash might be gone from The Flash for a while longer, the hero should get a lot more screentime on his new show.
Legends of Tomorrow fans won't see Wally when the series returns Monday, February 12, but The CW has said Kid Flash will be featured in the following episode on February 19. Wally will officially join the team full time in Episode 13. West's appearance on Legends of Tomorrow was rumored for a long time by fans, as the character had been largely absent and on a journey of self-discovery throughout Season 4 of The Flash.
The real story behind Wally's leaving was that the show's writers struggled to come up with scenarios to justify two speedsters on the show and quietly wrote Wally off The Flash in order to keep things interesting. Now Wally will continue his journey on DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Executive producer Phil Klemmer teased what's in store for Keiynan Lonsdale's character now that he's a part of the team:
We loved working with Keiynan in our series premiere --- the episode in which we learned that in between seasons 2 and 3 he had been fighting crime in Central City with Nick Zano's Nate Heywood. So when his character stepped away from Flash to go on walkabout, after being dumped and feeling somewhat estranged from his family/team, we knew that Wally West would fit in perfectly on Legends. After all, our show is about a collection of unlikely heroes who all began their journeys questioning who they are and where they belong --- only to find those answers while traveling through time and having wacky adventures. So now Wally West is not only back in the company of old friends from the Arrow-verse, he's fighting alongside a former enemy and career arsonist Mick Rory/Dom Purcell. By the end of this season Wally will learn that the Legends have a different definition of what it means to be a hero.
It sounds like Wally will enter the show with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Kid Flash is still carrying some baggage from being dumped by Jesse Quick and is still on his journey of self-discovery he started in The Flash Season 4. As Phil Klemmer mentioned above, Legends of Tomorrow will be the perfect show for Wally to figure some things out as well as discover who he is and where he belongs. He'll also be able to add a great deal of speed to the current ensemble team, which will certainly be of help to the current Waverider crew.
As far as how long Legends of Tomorrow fans can expect Wally along for the ride beyond Season 3, that's unknown. Brandon Routh seemed to imply that Wally's run on the show may not last all that long. Routh's response was based on earlier comments made by CW President Mark Pedowitz regarding Wally West joining the team, so it's possible he just said that as to not give away today's news of Lonsdale becoming a series regular. Even if Lonsdale's stint on the series is short-lived, it's certainly better than the presence he's had on The Flash this season, which has been extremely limited. The CW said there are no plans for Lonsdale to return to The Flash at this time.
Legends of Tomorrow returns to The CW on Monday, February 12 at 8:00 p.m. ET. For a long list of some other shows that will either be premiering or making a debut in the early months of 2018, head on over to our midseason premiere guide.
