Posted in: CW, TV, YouTube | Tagged: cw, Legends of Tomorrow, nick zano, season 7, Steel

Legends of Tomorrow: Nick Zano Thanks LOT Cast, Crew & Fans; BTS Look

To say that there was a lot to unpack about the seventh season finale of The CW's DC's Legends of Tomorrow would be an understatement, from Donald Faison's "golden" introduction to the Arrowverse to our Legends finding themselves under "time arrest." But perhaps the biggest kick to the feels came with the departure of Nick Zano's Nate Heywood aka Steel. As you know from "Knocked Down, Knocked Up," Nate rescues Alun (Tom Forbes) but in doing so, he's hit with mustard gas and loses his steel abilities- seemingly for good. But all is not lost as he retires to the Wind Totem to live out his life with Zari (Tala Ashe). Earlier this week, co-showrunner & EP Keto Shimizu discussed the decision behind the move (more on that below) but now we're hearing from Zano as he departs the long-running series. But first, we have two quick screencaps from the Instagram Stories video shared by Caity Lotz of Zano's final day of filming, where he spoke to the cast and was gifted a present (and though it doesn't show in the video, it's the puppet):

It's with a grateful, appreciative , full heart I say goodbye to my Legends family," Zano wrote in his Instagram post, along with a series of images from over his run on the Arrowverse series. "It's been the absolute most insane, fulfilling experiences I've ever had BUT the time has come for Nate/Steel to say goodbye to the greatest, most loyal, most ride or die, fan base" From there, he goes on to thank a number of people who helped him along the way- check out the full post below:

Now here's a look at what DC's Legends of Tomorrow co-showrunner & EP Shimizu had to say about the decision to TVLine:

Season 7 Finale Just Felt Like the Right Time: "It felt like it was time. It was sort of a natural time to say goodbye to this character. We feel so lucky to have had this wonderful span of six years of developing this character and working with such a talented man."

On Why Nate Needed to Lose His Powers: Explaining that "it felt like a natural way to end his run on the show," Shimizu went deeper into the reasoning. "He began the show by gaining the superpower. It felt right that he say goodbye to it as he's saying goodbye to the team. As we explore in this finale, he still doesn't feel done. He feels like he has this ability, and he has this drive to be out there and saving people," Shimizu continues, "and it really made sense, to us, that he would probably never feel like his job was done as long as he still had that ability because he would always feel like, 'Am I wasting this power by being here and not going out there and actively using it?' We wanted him to literally go out there and give it 100 percent. And in this case, he does that and more, because by going out there into the mustard gas and saving Alun, he becomes a regular mortal man again. But now he knows that he did everything in his power to do this act of heroism."

Nate Finally Got to Break His Family's Legacy/Curse: Having "broken the curse of his forefathers, which was to die on the field, on the moon, by demon, all these ways that Heywood men have died in the past," Nate can "finally say like, 'Wow, I'm still alive. Guess what? I'm going to go live,' and for him that means being with Zari and living a really good life."

So Is Nate Really Gone for Good? "Of course, the door's always open for people to come back and visit. But yes, this is a real goodbye. He's heading off to live with Zari in the totem and to finally writing his book."

DC's Legends of Tomorrow stars Caity Lotz as Sara Lance aka White Canary, Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory aka Heat Wave, Nick Zano as Dr. Nate Heywood aka Steel, Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Charlie, Tala Ashe as Zari Tarazi, Matt Ryan as Constantine/Dr. Gwyn Davies, Jes Macallan as Ava Sharpe, Courtney Ford as Nora Darhk, Olivia Swann as Astra Logue, Adam Tsekhman as Gary Green, Amy Louise Pemberton as Gideon, Lisseth Chavez as Esperanza "Spooner" Cruz, Aliyah O'Brien as Kayla. Greg Berlanti, Phil Klemmer, Keto Shimizu, Grainne Godfree, and Sarah Schechter executive produce. Bonanza Productions Inc. produces, in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!