Legends of Tomorrow: Why Wentworth Miller’s Captain Cold Was Killed Off

Wentworth Miller, who played Leonard Snart AKA Captain Cold in The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, left the Arrowverse in 2017 but the reasons why were never made clear. Miller starred in Prison Break alongside Dominic Purcell before the duo joined The Flash as two of the Scarlet Speedster’s most popular rogues, with Purcell becoming Snart’s partner-in-crime, Mick Rory AKA Heatwave. In 2016, Snart and Rory were recruited as founding members of the Legends of Tomorrow, but Captain Cold was killed off by the end of season 1.

Captain Cold has been a major part of the Arrowverse since The Flash season 1 and multiple versions of the frozen fiend from different continuities in the Multiverse have appeared, who were both good and evil. The original Leonard Snart fans met battled Barry Allen and Team Flash along with Mick Rory and his sister, Lisa Snart AKA Golden Glider (Peyton List). The Flash continually urged Snart to turn good and he got his chance to redeem himself for his crimes when Rip Hunter (Arthur Darville) picked Captain Cold and Heatwave to be the first incarnation of the Legends. Snart battled with the better angels of his nature and he even developed romantic feelings for Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), but he gave his life to save the timeline at the end of Legends of Tomorrow season 1, although alternate incarnations of Captain Cold have popped up since the original Snart’s demise.

Coinciding with Captain Cold’s death in Legends of Tomorrow season 1, Wentworth Miller signed an overall deal in 2016 to become a series regular across the Greg Berlanti-produced Arrowverse shows. This was a deal similar to the ones signed by Katie Cassidy and John Barrowman; while Miller would no longer be a series regular on Legends of Tomorrow, his new arrangement gave him the freedom to appear across the Arrowverse as necessary. But in November 2017, Miller announced on his Instagram page that he was leaving the Arrowverse altogether:

“Currently shooting some of my final episodes as ‘Captain Cold/Leonard Snart’ on the CW’s Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash. Grateful – now and in advance – to a pair of talented casts and hardworking crews … Thank you. … I’ve had a tremendous time playing this character. … It’s been an opportunity, an education and a f-cking blast.”

In real life, Miller is a dedicated activist for LGBTQ rights and for suicide prevention, and his personal struggles may have been a factor in his stepping back from the Arrowverse. Miller came out as gay in 2013 and he announced at a Human Rights Campaign dinner that he had attempted suicide multiple times as a teenager before coming out. In a 2016 Facebook post, Miller wrote that he had “struggled with depression since childhood. It’s a battle that’s cost [him] time, opportunities, relationships, and a thousand sleepless nights.” However, Miller has continued to act since exiting the Arrowverse; he appeared in episodes of Madam Secretary and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Miller has reprised the role of Captain Cold a few times since 2017 so he remains a beloved part of the Arrowverse. A heroic (and gay) version of Leonard Snart from the Nazi-dominated Earth-X fought alongside the superheroes in 2017’s Crisis On Earth-X crossover. Snart also popped up at the end of The Flash season 4, and Miller voiced Leonard, the artificial intelligence of the Waverider of Earth-74 in 2019/2020’s Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover. While Wentworth Miller seems to be done as a full-time presence in the Arrowverse, there’s no telling when the actor will return to play the cool and sometimes cruel Captain Cold once again.

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