Legends of Tomorrow star Brandon Routh has officially said goodbye to the show and his character Ray Palmer, AKA the Atom. Routh made his Arrowverse debut back in 2014 when he appeared in the third season of Arrow. He later became one of the original cast members of Legends of Tomorrow, appearing in all five seasons. Last year, it was announced that Routh, along with Courtney Ford, Routh’s real-life wife, would be leaving the show midway through its fifth season. Legends of Tomorrow began setting up Routh’s exit throughout the season, and he finally left in last night’s episode, “Romeo V. Juliet: Dawn of Justness.”

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Fans were very upset and disappointed to hear of Routh’s impending exit, and it turns out Routh feels the same way. Right after the announcement was officially made, Routh issued a statement that indicated his departure wasn’t his choice, and many comments he’s made since then have supported this. Routh has expressed his frustration with his exit storyline, at one point saying it “was not well handled.” Despite Routh’s reluctance to leave Legends of Tomorrow, the writers carried on with the story.

Following the episode, Routh took to Instagram to share a poignant goodbye message. Along with several pictures from his time with Legends of Tomorrow, Routh wrote a lengthy message thanking those who worked on the show and the fans who’ve followed it for years. He then capped off the message by admitting that “There’s no disputing it’s been a challenge to say goodbye,” but still shared his gratitude. You can see the post below:

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Hi All, I have such great resistance in my body in writing this—having to accept that the time has come. There are so many wonderful things to say about my experience on #LegendsOfTomorrow—but in light of the current global threat—I’ll be brief. I’m eternally grateful to the CW, WB, DC and everyone personally involved in bringing me into the #Arrowverse. It has been an incredible ride with several unexpected joys along the way. There are a multitude of wonderful, dedicated, and hardworking crew members and cast members across multiple shows that I’ve been able to team up with. Thank you to all. Thank you especially to my #Legends family, on-set crew, office staff, writers, and cast. Also thank you to the media & reviewers who get us, & let the world know! You all have made the experience worthwhile, for me personally, and I think, for the fans as well. Speaking of… #FanFamily—thank you for being you. For loving this show and allowing us to grow through our awkward teenage years. There is no show without you. I’m so grateful that we found you—you found us! It’s been a joy collaborating with you. 🧡 We are a show for those who are okay with accepting the flaws of others—because they are working on accepting their own. We are goofy, irreverent and earnest all at the same time. Hopefully showing a world where many different types of people can exist—not always perfectly, but always with humor. A balance of Light & Dark. Pessimism & Optimism. Free Will & Destiny. There’s no disputing it’s been a challenge to say goodbye. And that’s because we love this show, these characters, and you the fans. ❤️🙏🏼 With love & gratitude, Brandon Routh #RayPalmer #TheATOM

A post shared by Brandon Routh (@brandonjrouth) on

Ray and Nora Darhk (Ford) made their departures last night following their wedding the week before. While contemplating their future, Ray made the decision to leave the Legends and the Waverider behind to create a new life with Nora. His most poignant goodbye was with his best friend Nate Heywood (Nick Zano), which Routh admitted was one of the harder moments to film. Routh still seems to have mixed feelings over his exit from Legends of Tomorrow, though his goodbye post indicates he’s trying to make some peace with it.

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Routh has stated he doesn’t know if he’ll ever make a reappearance on Legends of Tomorrow or the Arrowverse at large, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Fans certainly want it to, for many have been heartbroken over Ray’s impending exit. Now that it’s finally happened, it’s up to them to decide if it was a proper goodbye for a character who has been around since the beginning. At least they, and Routh, will have the memories.

Legends of Tomorrow season 5 will continue on April 7 with “Zari, Not Zari.”

Source: Brandon Routh/Instagram

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Rachel Labonte
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Rachel LaBonte is a news, feature, and movie review writer for Screen Rant with a deep passion for film and television. A graduate of Emerson College, she majored in Media Arts Production while specializing in screenwriting. She’s been a writer ever since high school when she realized she was rather good at it and joined as many entertainment news clubs as she could while in school. Most notably, she wrote for Emerson’s website Emertainment Monthly, and one of her film reviews won an Evvy (Emerson’s student awards) for Best Review. Her deep love of movies led to her working at a movie theater for five years, which she loved despite the angry customers. An avid reader who constantly buys books before reading the ones she already owns, Rachel is a huge fan of superheroes (especially of the Marvel variety) and wizards and will likely never be able to catch up on all the movies/TV shows she longs to watch.

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