They’re an unusual pairing but Ray Palmer and Nora Darhk have become fan favourites. Though, we need to ask: why are they being written out of the show?
They’re two sides of the same coin. Doctor Ray Palmer and Nora Darhk debuted in Arrow before later joining Legends of Tomorrow. In reality, their portrayers Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford are married with a child. We personally love the way they’re both written.
Ford debuted as Nora in the Legends Season 3 episode, Return to the Mack. Routh first appeared as Ray in the Arrow Season 3 episode The Calm. Since then, they’ve joined forces, and their characters have become a couple, with the younger Darhk denouncing her parents’ evil ways.
Going into Legends Season 5, fans were given the devastating news that Brandon and Courtney would leave the show sometime during the new season. However, Routh didn’t want to go. So we must ask ourselves why the on-off screen couple was written out of the show?
No Storyline Left To Tell
This might seem obvious, but sometimes a character runs their course, and there’s no story left for them to partake in. They’re often killed off to make way for new characters or to move the plot along. Other times, they’re just written out without an explanation which is known as Chuck Cunningham Syndrome where a character just disappears.
It’s happened on a heap of soap operas over the years. For example, look at Jessica Forrester, the first daughter of The Bold and the Beautiful’s John Forrester. There was no reference to her when her sister Ivy joined the show or when their dad showed up. Then Ivy disappeared without so much as a goodbye.
Disputes
A common way to dispose of actors is if they get into a dispute, like pay raises. Look at what happened to Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim on Hawaii Five-O. They wanted more money because they weren’t being paid enough, while their co-stars were getting more due to white privilege on the studio’s part. When the bigwigs refused the request, the actors walked.
Another dispute would come in the form of sexual misconduct, but we doubt this or the money issue were factors.
Written Out To Make Way For A New Atom
Fans have known for a while that Ryan Choi, the second Atom, would join the Arrowverse during the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover event. While the character has popped up after being hinted at in The Flash Season 5 by Nora West-Allen, it’s unknown what his status after CoIE will be. It’s been rumoured he might be Ray’s replacement as the Atom, but we learned in The Flash hour that Choi has a wife and infant daughter.
We also learned that Ryan is the Paragon of Humanity, and he survived the anti-matter wave hitting Earth-1. Sorry if that’s a spoiler. Also, there’s no guarantee that he’ll reappear after completing his role. There’s been no news of Osric Chau returning to the Arrowverse. He might’ve filmed stuff, but it just hasn’t been announced.
Costs Too Much
Of all the options we’ve listed, we have not gone over a vital one; the budget of Legends of Tomorrow. LoT is possibly the most visual effects-heavy series in the Arrowverse outside of The Flash. Also, the cast of every show broadcasting on The CW gets good money. Routh is one of the leads on the series outside of Caity Lotz (Sara Lance).
Let’s not forget that Brandon starred as Superman in Superman Returns, a role he reprised in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover; only he’s now the Kingdom Come version of that character. He’s had a Hollywood career so that he would be getting good money regardless.
This is the thought of Arrowverse YouTuber, Pagey, who told us:
From what I have heard…the main reason that both of them were written off was because of Brandon…and that is due to the fact he costs a lot. Not 100% sure if that is true…but to me it makes sense. That has happened in the past with CW Shows.
We agree with him. Though, we think they could return in guest appearances if they’re not killed off.
Conclusion
Whatever the case might be for Brandon and Courtney’s departures, we wish them the best of luck. We hope they return to the Arrowverse at some point in the future.
Legends of Tomorrow returns with the final hour of Crisis on Infinite Earths on January 14 on The CW.
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