We'll Have To Wait For More Rip Hunter On "LoT'

At the end of the Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 premiere, after saving the rest of his time-jumping team, Rip Hunter disappeared, seemingly sacrificing himself for the others. Since he's such a huge part of the team, fans immediately became concerned about whether Rip Hunter will return to Legends of Tomorrow or if he's really gone for good. Well, don't worry, all signs point to him remaining a part of the series. But according to showrunner Marc Guggenheim's interview with Entertainment Weekly, it will be a little while before he returns, and when he does, he might not seem like the serious leader fans got to know in Season 1. "The goal this year is to give Rip the opportunity to have more fun, and be the swaggering, cocksure, former Time Master that we know he can be without the burden of either vengeance or grief," Guggenheim said.

He also added that Season 2 is "going to end up with a shift in leadership away from Rip," so it seems that Sara assuming more of a leadership position wasn't an accident or a one-off fluke. With that in mind, I don't think fans should rush the reveal if what happened to Rip. By confirming that the character will remain a part of the series without giving away where, when, or how he'll pop up, Guggenheim opens up the plot to bring him back in a surprising, interesting way.

The team behind Legends of Tomorrow has actually been dropping hints that Rip would be going through some kind of change for a while now. During the series' Comic-Con panel, Arthur Darvill, who plays Rip, teased, "There’s an exciting big twist for him quite early on." Is that simply the fact that Rip has disappeared, leaving the group behind to find its bearings without him? Or could it be a reference to wherever it is that he's landed for the time being?

Either way, the Legends will have a lot of work to do without their leader. After meeting the JSA, it's clear that the Legends are still not totally working as a team, especially with their leader missing. Hopefully, that doesn't mean that Rip Hunter's whereabouts will be completely mysterious forever. Guggenheim also told Entertainment Weekly in a different interview, "That’s going to be something that’s always going on in the background, and in some cases the foreground, of the various episodes." He also added, "You will find out [what happened to Rip] before the Legends do," suggesting that Rip might have his own adventures, wherever he wound up in time, be it far in the past or vaulted further into the future.

The rest of Rip Hunter's Season 2 journey may be up in the air right now, but Legends of Tomorrow wants to make it clear that he's not leaving the series anytime soon. Instead, the show has created a fascinating new mystery.

Images: Bettina Strauss, Diyah Pera/The CW; Giphy