Brandon Routh & Courtney Ford Exits The CW’s ‘Legends of Tomorrow’

The ragtag group of superhero time travelers is losing a core member of the team along with one of its villains. Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford are departing The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow as series regulars in the show’s upcoming fifth season.

Routh currently plays Dr. Ray Palmer/The Atom, one of the core members of the Legends of Tomorrow team initially headlined by Rip Hunter. He was with the group since season 1 alongside Caity Lotz, Victor Garber, and Wentworth Miller (all of whom also exited the show as regulars). Ford plays villain and dark magic enchantress Nora Dahrk.

According to Deadline, the storyline for the two characters will be wrapping up in the show’s fifth season. The time-travel aspect of the series gives way for more superheroes to join the show, hence the creative team’s decision to let go of The Atom’s storyline. However, Routh still has one more superhero role to fulfill in The CW’s Arrowverse. The actor will appear in this year’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover as Alex Ross’ Kingdom Come version of Superman—reprising his 2006 Superman Returns role albeit belonging to another earth.

Legends of Tomorrow executive producers Phil Klemmer, Grianne Godfree, and Keto Shimizu released a statement praising Routh’s work as one of DC’s iconic superheroes in the show and Ford’s addition to the show’s narrative. “Brandon and Courtney have been invaluable members of the Legends family. They have always brought a level passion and collaboration to their characters and to the show—both on and off the screen – that we deeply admire and for which we are eternally grateful,” they said. “As one of the founding Legends of Tomorrow, Brandon is extremely beloved by the fans and everyone on the show.”

But Routh and Ford’s exit doesn’t entirely close the door for future guest appearances on the show. “Of course, when we have had main characters in the past whose journeys take them away from the Waverider, it’s never truly goodbye,” Klemmer, Godfree, and Shimizu said. “We love these characters and hope to check in with them in future seasons, to see how life off the ship has transformed them for better or worse.”

Routh and Ford will be filming their final episode in October. Legends of Tomorrow is set to premiere its fifth season in January 2020.