As much as fans would love to see all of the Firefly actors reprising those roles in some way, we’re usually just as happy to hear about them joining other shows. There is definitely reason to rejoice here, as the upcoming DC Universe spinoff Legends of Tomorrow will be adding Jewel “Kaylee Frye” Staite for a guest spot as someone with ties to the comic book world. This sounds gorram wonderful.
As Legends of Tomorrow will flip and flop around through time, it’s understandable that Staite won’t be making an appearance in the present. She’ll take on the role of Rachel Turner, a roboticist and tech genius in the future that is working on things that she hopes will make society a much better place. Unfortunately, her creations are capable of doing just as much harm as good, depending on who is operating them.
Enter Legends of Tomorrow’s big bad Vandal Savage, who gets a hold of Rachel’s tech and plans to use it to take over the entire world, according to TVLine. Naturally. And it’ll happen, unless Rachel manages to team up with the titular supersquad to find a way to stop him. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that exact thing will end up happening, although the show’s producers have been vocal about how this show is set up to feature some major consequences.
So who might Rachel be related to from DC’s history? The biggest possibility would be martial artist Ben Turner, better known by his alias Bronze Tiger. The character worked with both the League of Assassins and the Suicide Squad, and has already made an appearance of sorts in The CW’s DC output in the digital comic Arrow: Season 2.5. So maybe Rachel could be a granddaughter or someone else a little farther down the line. Another option would be New Earth’s Amanda Turner, but she’s nowhere near as important.
Following the cancellation of Firefly, Staite remained busy, starring in Stargate: Atlantis, The L.A. Complex and was a recurring character in the final seasons of The Killing. Thankfully, she is just as welcoming of Firefly’s fanbase as everyone else, and joined the others in a couple of episodes of Alan Tudyk’s web series Con Man, in which she cosplayed as Captain Mal.
Legends of Tomorrow already has a slew of characters involved, with guest appearances from The Flash and Arrow characters sprinkled throughout, but no one is ever going to complain about Jewel Staite hopping in. The all-star spinoff is set to debut on The CW on Thursday, January 21. To find out when everything else is premiering and returning in the next few months, check out our midseason TV schedule.
