Legends of Tomorrow: A young George Lucas to appear

DC's Legends of Tomorrow type TV Show network The CW genre Superhero

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is about to delve into the world of George Lucas.

In the wake of the reveal that Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) is working as a director in 1967 Los Angeles, EW can exclusively reveal that a younger version of George Lucas will appear in the winter premiere.

The prolific director will be portrayed by Matt Angel (Sweet/Vicious, Grimm) for an episode that will deeply affect the Legends, particularly Ray (Brandon Routh) and Nate (Nick Zano).

“Because of circumstances, the time aberration in episode 209 is George Lucas quits film school,” executive producer Marc Guggenheim tells EW. “As a result, he never makes Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark. As a result, Ray, who became an engineer because of Star Wars, and Nate, who became a historian because of Raiders, slowly start to lose their brilliance, because those things that inspired them to become who they are didn’t exist.”

Describing the story as “Flowers for Algernon with Ray and Nate,” Guggenheim says the episode is one of the most ambitious that Legends of Tomorrow has done. “We were watching a cut of it, and I said to Greg [Berlanti] that 209 is either going to be the episode where we’ll say that the show found a new gear in terms of how zany it can be, or it’s the episode that’s going to get us all fired,” he says. “It really is. You’re laughing out loud, I think with it, but it’s like, ‘Are we really doing this?’ It’s the ’70s bar fight on steroids. The whole episode is that level of crazy.”

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow returns Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.