SPOILER ALERT: This story includes a detail about the current Season 3 of the CW’s Legends of Tomorrow.

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EXCLUSIVE: I’ve learned that a core member of the time-traveling team on DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow is departing. Victor Garber, who has played Martin Stein aka Firestorm from the start, will be exiting the series during the current third season. The network and producing studio Warner Bros. TV had no comment.

I first heard rumblings about a potential Garber exit last spring as Legends of Tomorrow was wrapping its second season. The chatter intensified over the summer. While no one would comment, a pending departure was inadvertently revealed in early September when it was announced that musical theater veteran Garber would return to Broadway, teaming with Bernadette Peters to headline the Tony-winning revival of Hello, Dolly!, taking over from David Hyde Pierce and Bette Midler. Their first show is on January 20.

A Broadway run is a big undertaking, involving a six day a week schedule and 7-8 shows a week. Doing that while filming a primetime series is virtually impossible, especially when the show is produced 3,000 miles away as is the case with the Vancouver-based Legends Of Tomorrow.

I hear Garber’s exit had been carefully planned ahead of time. After wrapping his run on the show, which should be shortly, Garber is expected to move back to New York to start preparing for Hello, Dolly! I hear he will remain series regular on the current third season of Legends Of Tomorrow though there are no current plans for him to return for further episodes. Still, with the time-travel nature of the superhero show, there is always a possibility for characters to be brought back.

On Legends of Tomorrow, Garber, whose character was introduced on Flash before segueing to the superhero team-up offshoot, has starred opposite Brandon Routh, Arthur Darvill, Caity Lotz, Franz Drameh, Nick Zano, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Tala Ashe, Neal McDonough and Dominic Purcell, all series regulars on the current third season.