Arthur Darvill’s Rip Hunter won’t be coming back for season 4 of The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow, which indicates that the former captain of the Waverider and original star of the series is going to remain dead.
Though not a series regular, Rip Hunter was a recurring character in season 3 who had a key role in the Legends’ season-long struggle with the time demon, Mallus. After being exiled from the Waverider as well as the Time Bureau, Rip recruited Wally West and was on a path to redemption while helping the Legends defeat Mallus. Unfortunately, Rip had to sacrifice himself to give the Legends the upper hand in the season 3 finale.
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Legends of Tomorrow showrunner Phil Klemmer told Digital Spy at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 that Rip Hunter won’t be returning for season 4: “I believe he’s done, for this season. But, I mean, Arthur Darvill is the greatest. We’ve got a terrible habit of killing the greatest people. It’s totally stupid.”
The revelation is disappointing news for fans who had hopes that the character could somehow return. As Legends is a time-travel series that has a habit of bringing back dead heroes and villains, Rip’s return seemed like a good possibility. In April, former showrunner Marc Guggenheim was open to the idea of bringing Rip back, and added that Darvill was willing to reprise the role. However, a season 4 appearance from Darvill now seems extremely unlikely.
![Legends of Tomorrow Season 4: Rip Hunter Won’t Return](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/DC-Legends-Of-Tomorrow-Season-4-Teaser-Poster.jpg)
As Rip is the character responsible for bringing the Legends together and the team’s original leader, it’s surprising that Legends won’t be revisiting the character. However, the season 3 finale did find a way to appropriately wrap up Rip’s story. Rip’s departure leaves the series with only three members of the show’s original cast: Ray (Brandon Routh), Sara (Caity Lotz), and Rory (Dominic Purcell). Due to the high volume of characters who left or died in season 3, the cast for season 4 will look dramatically different from past seasons.
The current team will lose Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale), and gain Constantine (Matt Ryan), along with a brand-new character played by Ramona Young. Maisie Richardson-Sellers will remain with the series, but will play a different character, since Amaya’s storyline reached a proper conclusion at the end of season 3. Fans will also be seeing a lot more of Jess Macallan’s Ava Sharpe and Courtney Ford’s Nora Darhk, as both actresses have been promoted to series regular status. From the looks of things, season 4 is setting up to be a new beginning for the series.
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Season 4 of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow premieres Monday, October 22 on The CW.