SDCC: LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Announces Hawkman

Last night's Legends of Tomorrow panel brought producers and writers Geoff Johns, Marc Guggenheim, Greg Berlanti and Phil Klemmer and stars Ciara Renee (Hawkgirl), Victor Garber (Martin Stein), Brandon Routh (The Atom), Wentworth Miller (Captain Cold), Caity Lotz (White Canary) and Dominic Purcell (Heat Wave) to Hall H. Unfortunately Arthur Darvill (Rip Hunter) wasn't able to attend.

The big news out of the panel was that Hawkman will be featured in the first season of the superhero team-up show. But what I was most pleased to note about the panel is that the crowd went completely wild every time Hawkgirl or White Canary were mentioned. This audience is obviously hungry for superheroines, and the Legends of Tomorrow - while a bit of a league of misfits, or "screw-ups," as Klemmer called them - is going to deliver. On a personal note, I'm so thrilled to see Lotz's Canary, whatever color she is, return to my TV, and it seems like I'm not alone there.

Other moments from the panel:

Berlanti said there are certain ideas the writers conceive of that they then decide are too crazy for The Flash or Arrow, but "Legends of Tomorrow is nothing but the crazy ideas...Legends of Tomorrow is as different from The Flash as The Flash is from Arrow."

As we know, the series will feature our heroes chasing Vandal Savage all over time, but we learned that a major component of the plot will be the way that the Legends change history in significant and often damning ways with each action they take across multiple timelines.

Ciara Renee's been preparing for her character by reading the "hundreds" of comic books supplied to her by the producers, marathoning The Flash and Arrow and taking up boxing, because she's excited to tackle some stunt work.

And back to the great Caity Lotz, she discussed how the Lazarus Pit has changed her character: "I want her to go nuts, just off her rocker...She is not afraid to die. I mean, she's died multiple times. Imagine that, having no fear of death, how reckless you would be. Nothing can stop her. That's what makes her so dangerous on this show." YES. Yes. I cannot wait.

But I'll have to! Legends of Tomorrow premieres on The CW in early 2016.