DC Legends of Tomorrow, the spinoff of Arrow and Flash has just premiered on the CW.

Lessee what craziness ensues!

So the basics: we have been gradually introduced to several new DC characters over the last couple of seasons of Arrow and The Flash.  How and why are they going to end up together? And what the hell for?

Enter Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill), a dashing Time Master currently residing 150 years into the future and the world is under attack from a villain by the name of Vandal Savage. Savage appeared in the recent Arrow/Flash crossover episodes, and was thought to have been defeated. He is an immortal, who can only remain so by killing the same two people in every life, more on that soon. Savage is shown ravaging London, and we see him kill a woman in the streets. He approaches her son, has a short conversation and then shoots the poor kid too!  This is one villainous villain fo sho.

Rip approaches his fellow Time Masters, asking for permission to go back in time and dispose of Vandal Savage before he can begin this evil war. The Council refuses to change the course of time, as one individual is not important in the whole scheme of things. Plus, we’ve all seen The Butterfly Effect, am I right?

Rip leaves and boards his kick-ass looking spaceship, and I am having a few Firefly feels right now. He has decided to go back in time to January 2016 to round up a team of special individuals to help him track down Savage. He buckles in, and advises his ship’s AI computer, Gideon to guide the ship back in to the past. Engage! Make it so!

And now we meet the crew as Rip buzzes around with a Men in Black looking device to capture them. First up, Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) aka The Atom.  Think Ant Man, but a super rich genius who designed his own suit.  He’s charming, more than a bit loopy and looks suspiciously like Superman.

Next up, the White Canary. Originally from Arrow, Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) was a member of the League of Assasins until she was killed and then brought back from the dead in Ra’s Al Ghul’s Lazarus Pit. She has never been the same, and possesses a blood lust that cannot be contained.  Her sister, Laurel has taken up the mantel of the Black Canary on Arrow so Sara became the White. Like Gandalf, but with greasier hair and a leather suit.

Martin Stein (Victor Garber!!) and Jefferson Jackson (Franz Drameh) have the ability to merge together and become Firestorm. Jax provides the body, while Martin merges into him and provides the conscious and brain power. These two have only just recently merged, as seen on the Flash, and are still getting to know each other and learning to control Firestorm.

As mentioned up there, Vandal Savage’s existence is tied to that of two other people. Kendra Saunders (Ciara Renee) aka Hawkgirl and Carter Hall (Falk Hentschel) aka Hawkman. The three originally existed in Ancient Egypt, Vandal murdered the couple in a fit of jealously. A meteor shower hit Earth at the same time as Vandal and Kendra were praying to the god Horus leaving them all cursed to die and be resurrected hundreds of times. Vandal needs to kill them in each lifetime to remain immortal, and he has so far killed them 206 times. Oh, and the reason for the Hawk nicknames for both? Motherflipping wings, baby.

Now the best two. Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller) aka Captain Cold and Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) aka Heat Wave. Prison Break forever! Also excited for the return of that show, I have to say. Anyway! We know Leonard and Mick from The Flash, they are a pair of career criminals with no special powers but they have managed to get their hands on some special weapons: a cold and heat gun of course! These two are so snarkalicious, rough and ready and comic book corny, the best!

They all wake up on a rooftop and Rip tells his tale of Vandal Savage and how he needs their help to stop him. All they have to do is track Vandal down somewhere in time and get rid of him once and for all. He gives them the spin story that this is their density! They are LEGENDS in the future. As Martin says, isn’t the only way you become a legend is if your dead? Uh, good point Professor. Rip gives them a card with an address and gives them 36 hours to decide.

They each grapple with their decision. Ray goes to see Arrow, Sara to Laurel, and Leonard and Mick discuss how much stuff they could steal from the past seeing as they already know what will be valuable. Again, fair point. Kendra and Carter argue, Kendra doesn’t remember all her past lives yet and is not yet ready to fight this battle. Kendra eventually comes around, but not before a fight at full wing.  Feathers are not fun to clean up guys!

This leaves Firestorm. Martin is super keen to go, it is everything he has worked his whole life to achieve. Time travel. Jax is not on board at all, and Martin decides he will approach Rip to consider taking him as just an adviser. Martin proposes a toast, and splat, there goes Jax. Professor Stein has gone the roofie route, and drives the unconscious Jax to meet with Rip.

They all arrive at the seemingly empty, deserted meeting place. After a quick meet and greet, Rip pulls out the big guns. His ship, wearing a cloak of invisibility or something, is right there in front of them! He tells them it is called the Waverider, and they all board and meet Gideon. Rip informs them of their first mission, they are going back to 1975 to find a man called Aldus Boardman, a professor from St Roch, New Orleans.

They all strap themselves in, and Rip decides then would be the time to tell them that they may experience some bleeding. From the eyeballs. Aw Hell Naw. Jax wakes up with a big WTF after take off is initiated and is not pleased to discover where he is.The ship arrives in 1975, and the crew discover that there are a few other side effects Rip neglected to mention. Nausea, vertigo, temporary blindness. No biggie.

They discuss the mission and Rip informs Sara, Leonard and Mick that they will be staying on board, their particular skill sets no required at this point in time. Jax also stays, still in a huff with Stein. The others head out into 1975, and to the University to find Aldus Boardman. The crew walking through the bright colours and seventies clothes is a very striking scene, and we get to Aldus’s office to find him asleep at his desk.

Aldus wakes and is stunned to find them all in his office, particularly Kendra and Carter. Rip encourages him to tell them what he knows about Savage, and he retells the tale of how he came to be immortal. He also reveals why he was so surprised to see the Hawks.  You see, in their last lives, Kendra and Carter were his parents. They were killed by Vance when he was 10 and he has been tracking him ever since. He shows them various photos of Savage, usually in the company of whatever despot currently waging war upon the world. He thrives on chaos apparently, and this gives them to clue as to where in the world Vandal Savage might be right now.

Back on the Waverider, Sara, Leonard and Mick have had enough waiting and head out to a bar to get “weird” in the 70’s. They leave Jax behind, and find a dive bar. $1 beers, hells yeah! Mick gets all sentimental and puts The Captain and Tennille on the jukebox. As “Love Will Keep Us Together” blares out, Sara begins to dance and is hit upon quite forcefully by a big bellied biker. She assures the boys, she’s got this, and proceeds to kick a third of the bar’s asses in about 30 seconds. The boys step in and they all finish them off, until a biker goes through the jukebox and cuts of the Captain.  Magic.

Jax paces the ship, trying to convince Gideon to take him home.  She refuses and suddenly, the ship begins to take fire.  Gideon tells Jax something is trying to breach the hull, and we cut to outside where we see a Star Wars looking masked dude trying to shoot through the ship’s camouflage.

Stein senses that Jax is in trouble and they all head back to the ship. Kendra and Carter insist on taking Aldus with them and they get back to see the ship under attack. They fight him off, and Stein makes a run for the ship to merge with Jax. Ray also bolts in to get his suit while the Hawks and Rip provide cover. Sara, Leonard and Mick arrive and wipe out Boba Fett with their stolen 70’s ride. Aldus takes a hit, and they all make their way back to the ship where Gideon has the Waverider ready for escape.

Rip tells them the dude is a bounty hunter called Chronos, hired by the Time Master’s Council to bring him and the ship back. Seems that apparently, Rip didn’t get permission for this mission and everything he has told them so far is booshite, and he is no longer a Time Master. Time Masters are forbidden from having relationships and children, but Rip had both, the woman and child we saw Vandal take out at the beginning of the episode. Everyone is pissed at Rip, and he cops a couple of bonks to the nose for his troubles. The implication being, that they were not picked because they were special at all. They were chosen by Rip as they were the ones least likely to have an effect on the timeline if they didn’t survive. Way harsh, Rip. They all decide to take some time and decide if they still want to help.

Kendra and Carter go to the medical bay to see Aldus, and he gives Kendra the ring he wears around her neck.  The ring she wore in her past life as his mother. Aldus doesn’t make it, and the Hawks decide they still need to make sure Vandal is destroyed. Stein and Jax decide that Firestorm needs to be a part of this, as long as Martin disposes of the roofies. Ray’s ego is most upset, but Sara manages to convince him that they all have control over their own destinies, and that they can become legends off their own bats. Leonard and Mick take the least convincing, Mick just likes to kill people.

We end with Savage in Norway in 1975, surrounded by dead soldiers, on the back of a truck. He opens a crate and exposes a nuclear warhead: he’s just trying to make the world a better place, one war at a time.

Man, this show was a blast. More Avengers-esque than Arrow and The Flash, great dialogue and flashy special effects. It was fast paced, and now everyone has been introduced and the scene set, I can only imagine how great this show can get. Yes I know I’m a giant nerd and easily entertained, but this was a quality pilot. Here I am watching;