It was revealed at The CW upfront presentation that Vandal Savage would be the villain on the Arrow/Flash spinoff Legends of Tomorrow. But just who is he?
“He is immortal and commands the most powerful army the world has ever seen,” Oliver says of Vandal Savage in the Legends of Tomorrow trailer, by way of explanation for why he and Barry Allen have gathered the group in front of them.
“Savage’s evil spans the course of history,” time traveler Rip Hunter adds. “So we will have to travel through time to stop him.”
So, what should we expect from this dangerous-sounding villain in Legends?
In the DC Comics
Vandal Savage has a long, rich history in the comics. He debuted in 1943’s Green Lantern #10 as a supervillain whose original name was Vandar Adg. A caveman and leader of the Blood Tribe, he was born over 50,000 years ago. When a meteor crashed into Earth, he was exposed to radiation, which granted him genius intellect and immortality.
Savage was a scourge on Earth before the beginning of recorded human history, and he has continued his evil ways into the present day and beyond. Because of this, he has faced off against hundreds of heroes throughout history, though he’s well known as a villain of the Justice League of America.
Savage’s claims to notoriety include destroying the lost city of Atlantis as leader of the proto-Illuminati; ruling civilizations under names like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Genghis Khan; and terrorizing people as Blackbeard, Vlad the Impaler, and Jack the Ripper.
After a time, however, he decided to shift to behind-the-scenes work, and was an advisor of figures like William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, and even Adolf Hitler.
Savage has multiple children, but the only one he considers legitimate is his daughter Scandal, who he trained in combat from childhood. Grendel, the famous monster, is also supposedly one of his children. And in the New 52 run of comics, Savage has another daughter named Kassandra Sage, who is an FBI agent.
Savage renews his multitude of powers by consuming his enemies’ blood. He must also harvest the organs of his blood descendants to sustain his immortality. Coincidentally, he is considered the first cannibal.
In the DCAU
Savage, besides numerous comic appearances, has made many appearances in the DC Animated Universe. Considering his extensive history in the comics, going the animated route may be a more manageable way to become familiar with the immortal supervillain.
Where to begin? Well, he appeared in the three-part Justice League episode titled “The Savage Time,” in which Savage gave the Nazis advanced technology and took over the party, thus winning WWII. He also appeared in the episodes “Maid of Honor” and “Hereafter (Part 2).”
He also makes an appearance in Young Justice, in which he is a member of the villainous group “The Light.”
And animated film-wise, he is the main antagonist in Justice League: Doom, in which he forms the Legion of Doom to destroy the Justice League.
His appearance in Legends of Tomorrow will mark his live action debut when being called by his true name. (Dean Cain was originally supposed to play Savage in Smallville, but the character’s name was changed.)
As a reminder, the official synopsis for Legends of Tomorrow reads:
“When heroes alone are not enough… the world needs legends. Having seen the future, one he will desperately try to prevent from happening, time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter is tasked with assembling a disparate group of both heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat – one in which not only is the planet at stake, but all of time itself. Can this ragtag team defeat an immortal threat unlike anything they have ever known?
“DC’S Legends of Tomorrow stars Victor Garber (The Flash, Alias); Brandon Routh (Arrow, Superman Returns); Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who); Caity Lotz (Arrow); Ciarra Renee (Pippin); Franz Drameh (Edge of Tomorrow); with Dominic Purcell (The Flash, Prison Break); and Wentworth Miller (The Flash, Prison Break).
“Based on the characters from DC Comics, DC’S Legends of Tomorrow is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash, upcoming Pan), Marc Guggenheim (Arrow, Eli Stone, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters), Andrew Kreisberg (Arrow, The Flash, Eli Stone, Warehouse 13) and Sarah Schechter (Arrow, The Flash, upcoming Pan).”