On March 11, 2016, Legends of Tomorrow was renewed for a second season. After the first season, the producers considered adjusting the Legends team for additional seasons, with Joseph David-Jones' Connor Hawke and Megalyn Echikunwoke's Mari McCabe / Vixen potential additions. For the second season, showrunner Phil Klemmer revealed that Arrow writer Keto Shimizu and The Flash writer Grainne Godfree would be working on Legends in order to "make our stories work in concert" with Arrow and The Flash. Klemmer also noted the challenges of creating more crossover elements, since Arrow's lead actor Stephen Amell and The Flash's lead actor Grant Gustin work full days for their respective shows. In terms of working within the Arrowverse, Klemmer said that the death of Laurel Lance on Arrow would "resonate into Season 2... something that happens on Arrow can create ripples that appear on our show in a huge way. It fundamentally alters the DNA of our series." The second season initially consisted of 13 episodes, with four more ordered in November 2016 to bring the season total to 17. Teasing the premise of season two in April 2016, Klemmer stated, "We're coming at it from a completely different angle. We're determined to make every part of season two feel like its own show. will very much be a new pilot with new good guys, new bad guys, new stakes, new dynamics, new goals. The team will basically have to find a new purpose. Once you save the world, what do you do then?... The fact that the world was in peril sort of forced our team to fall into its own dysfunctional version of lockstep. Season two, they're no longer going to be hunted by Time Masters. They're no longer going to be burdened with having to save the world. It's no longer going to be about saving Miranda and Jonas. The interesting thing about season two is I think it's going to have a much, much different tone because our Legends are going to have a totally different purpose. They're actually going to have a totally different constitution. There will be new faces and new everything." The season also introduced members of the Justice Society of America. The Society consisted of Hourman, Vixen, Commander Steel, Obsidian, Stargirl and Dr. Mid-Nite. The season also featured a version of the Legion of Doom, composed of Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash, Malcolm Merlyn, Damien Darhk and Leonard Snart / Captain Cold.
Casting
Main cast members Victor Garber, Brandon Routh, Arthur Darvill, Caity Lotz, Franz Drameh, Amy Pemberton, and Dominic Purcell returned from the previous season as Martin Stein, Ray Palmer, Rip Hunter, Sara Lance, Jefferson Jackson, Gideon, and Mick Rory, respectively. They were joined by Matt Letscher, Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Nick Zano, playing Eobard Thawne, Amaya Jiwe, and Nate Heywood, respectively. Letscher reprised his role from The Flash. It was originally intended for Megalyn Echikunwoke, who voices Mari McCabe / Vixen in the animated web seriesVixen, to reprise her role in this series, but due to scheduling conflicts for Echikunwoke, the producers instead cast Sellers as Jiwe, McCabe's grandmother and an earlier incarnation of Vixen. This incarnation was an original creation for the series. Darvill was absent for 5 episodes this season due to his commitment to the ITV series Broadchurch. Pemberton physically portrayed Gideon in the episode "Land of the Lost", unlike earlier episodes where she only voiced the character. Wentworth Miller, who portrayed Leonard Snart / Captain Cold as a regular in season one, signed a contract with Warner Bros. TV to continue portraying Snart simultaneously on multiple shows in the Arrowverse, including Legends of Tomorrow. John Barrowman and Katie Cassidy, who portrayed Malcolm Merlyn and Laurel Lance respectively on Arrow, signed a similar contract that allowed them to continue being a series regular on Arrow as well as the other Arrowverse shows, including The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. Neal McDonough, who recurred as Damien Darhk on Arrow and made a guest appearance in season one of Legends of Tomorrow, returned to the series in a recurring capacity. Ciara Renée and Falk Hentschel, who starred as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl and Carter Hall / Hawkman respectively in the first season, did not return for the second, with Legends of Tomorrow co-creator Marc Guggenheim saying the writers could not find a suitable story for their characters set after the first season, adding, "The bow was tied so tightly and neatly with their story in the finale, that everything we thought of felt very forced. After 4000 years, they were no longer under the specter of Vandal Savage |Vandal , and we felt they need some time off." He added that bringing the duo back at the very beginning of the second season felt "premature."
Filming
Shooting for the season began in July 2016 at Vancouver, and ended in February 2017.
Arrowverse tie-ins
In November 2016, the cast of Legends of Tomorrow appeared on The Flash and Arrow as part of the three-part "Invasion!" crossover event; the crossover episodes also featured appearances by Melissa Benoist, reprising her role as Kara Danvers / Supergirl from the TV series Supergirl.
Release
Broadcast
The season began airing on October 13, 2016, on The CW in the United States, and concluded on April 4, 2017.
Home media
The season was made available for streaming on Netflix in late April 2017, soon after the season finale aired. It was later released on Blu-ray on August 15, 2017.
Reception
Ratings
Critical response
gave the season an 88% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.97/10 based on 10 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "Though the narrative remains too ambitious, DC's Legends of Tomorrow enjoys a freer creative arc with the removal of problem characters." Jesse Schedeen of IGN called it a significant improvement over the first season, saying it reduced "most of what didn't work about Season 1 and added several worthy new characters to the mix." He noted that while the season was "crammed full of compelling character arcs and plot twists", it thrived simply by "offering a sense of whimsical adventure and comedy that be frustratingly hard to find in other live-action DC projects."
