When the lineup was revealed for the new DC team-up TV series, Legends of Tomorrow, beyond the “Wait, how is Sara Lance alive?!” of it all, the biggest question was what the villains Captain Cold and Heat Wave were doing on the team.

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Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller in Legends of Tomorrow.

Having appeared in a recurring basis throughout Season 1 of The Flash, Cold (Wentworth Miller) and Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell) have been ongoing thorns in the side of Barry Allen. And just when it seemed an uneasy alliance was forming between Flash and Cold, Leonard Snart showed his true nature once again and betrayed him.Which begs the question, how will these guys function on a team with a bunch of heroes?“I am not sure, entirely,” said Wentworth Miller, when I asked him this question at the Upfronts in New York last month. “My hope is that Captain Cold gets to keep his edge, his humor. But it’s not a total surprise to me that he is working with these good guys, or is prepared to work with these good guys. He does have a heart, and I think we see that in the relationship with his sister. So it’s not out of the question that he might do something good for a change.” Miller added, “I think it is a shades of grey character and I’d like to see him straddle the line as much as possible because that’s a lot of fun for me.”Regarding whether putting these two on a team of this sort can work, Dominic Purcell told me, “Absolutely, it can. I’m not like Spider-Man or Superman but Mick Rory and Captain Cold are still just as fascinating, wise, and just as charismatic; just as interesting. And then the flame gun, I may as well be a superhero because the thing is like an atomic bomb. I don’t think that’s an issue at all.”It seems likely the rest of the team, including White Canary (Lotz), The Atom (Brandon Routh), Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée) and Martin Stein (Victor Garber) will have some major distrust of Captain Cold and Heat Wave, but can the duo at least count on each other? Said Miller, “I think so, but even in that relationship there’s distrust and a degree of competitiveness, so it’s anyone’s guess.”Said Purcell, “It’s a love/hate relationship between these two guys. It’s an unspoken thing between them. At the end of the day, if you pitch to a guy that he’s Captain Cold, the brains, and Heat Wave is the thug/muscle… Wentworth and I had already done a handshake on that. “Okay, you’re in charge. whatever.” And that’s the way we kind of want to run it.”Captain Cold and Heat Wave will be on a team with several characters they’ve never met before, and regarding that, and where the show is going, Miller remarked, “I think there’s a lot for fans to look forward to in that these characters haven’t necessarily interacted before in the DC comic book universe and now they are. I’m most excited about the actors playing the characters. I think we have such a strong cast.”Said Purcell of his new costars, “I’m looking forward to working with them. I get a sense that the show itself, Legends of Tomorrow, is gonna be a hit, so it’s always nice to have that feeling of a family unit, which usually happens when you’re on a TV show.”It’s been clear Leonard Snart likes calling the shots, so another question is how much he might bristle if someone else is in charge of the Legends of Tomorrow. Said Miller, “I think he is most comfortable in a leadership role and even if that’s not an offer, he might find a way to seize it.”While Legends of Tomorrow doesn’t debut until 2016, we’ll be seeing Captain Cold again earlier than that. Noted Miller, “Even though we’ve got the spinoff, I am excited about his continued presence on The Flash. There are gonna be some crossover episodes next fall, so there’s a lot to look forward to.”Miller and Purcell had no idea a spinoff was a prospect when they signed onto The Flash in a guest capacity and I asked both actors what the last few months have been like as they became immersed in this DC Comics world. Said Miller, “I’m just kind of rolling with it the best I can. I just said yes to a guest star. There was potential for Captain Cold to come back once or twice on The Flash and the fact that it’s involved in this larger thing, I’m just grateful to have a place at the table.”Purcell recalled, “I’ve never read a comic book in my life. When I started shooting Heat Wave in Flash, I had no idea who he was and started working it out on the floor. But I kind of stumbled into the right vibe for him and people, the producers, were very happy with what I was doing. That’s basically what gave me the confidence to go even further with him. And now with the new show, I get to basically do whatever the f**k I want, so that’s what I’m going to do!” DC's Legends of Tomorrow premieres in early 2016 on the CW.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheEricGoldman , IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman