‘Legends Of Tomorrow’ Season 3 Spoilers: EPs Talk Damien Darhk’s Return

Fans will see more of Damien Darhk on CW’s “Legends of Tomorrow.” But compared to last season’s version of the character, Season 3 Damien is a lot darker.

“Damien’s really interesting because this is a Damien Darhk that’s very different from last year, from the one who hadn’t been through all the decades of life and particularly the season of ‘Arrow’ where he got defeated,” executive producer Marc Guggenheim told TVLine. “ [This Damien] not only got killed, he lost the love of his life, his daughter … Things didn’t end so well for him, plus he also has a wealth of experience now under his belt that he’s going to be able to bring to bear. And he also uses magic now.”

“Yeah, he is a post-‘Arrow’ version of Damien Darhk,” Guggenheim’s fellow executive producer confirmed in a recent interview with Variety. “Last season he was kind of played for comic relief – as the Legion of Doom was with the constant back-stabbing and trying to outwit one another. This season is Damien Darhk as much more formidable and more as Damien as a dark lord. … He’s more digging into his supernatural and the world of the occult.”

McDonough, who is returning to the show as a series regular, appeared in nine episodes of Season 2, in which his character helped Eobard Thawne (Matt Letscher) locate the pieces of the Spear of Destiny. But after successfully de-powering the Spear of Destiny and erasing Eobard from existence in the Season 2 finale, Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) wiped Damien’s memory and returned him to Miami 1984.

“I kind of feel like we could have put him in prison instead of just putting him back, but obviously for the timeline, he needed to live out his existence, which is why he was spared,” series star Brandon Routh said of why the Legends put Damien back to Miami 1984 at the end of last season.

As for why Damien was chosen as one of the villains for Season 3, Klemmer told Cinema Blend that Damien’s personal connection to Sara — he killed her sister in “Arrow” Season 4 — made him a perfect baddie for the new season. “[We] want bad guys who have enriched our characters’ story personally, as opposed to just two-dimensional ‘I'm a bad guy who wants to rule the world,” Klemmer explained. “Our show is frothy, and it’s always personal.”

“Legends of Tomorrow” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EDT on The CW.