“Legacies” EP Brett Matthews Talks Show’s Lighter Tone, Alaric and Hope’s Dynamic and More!
At San Diego Comic-Con 2018, The CW previewed the upcoming spinoff set in the universe of “The Vampire Diaries” and “The Originals,” “Legacies.” Series executive producer Brett Matthews spoke with OMFGTV to spill some details on the highly anticipated supernatural show.
Matthews began by addressing the tone of the series in light of “The Vampire Diaries” being a romance and “The Originals” being a family drama. “I’d say it’s a high school show, I’d say that’s the genre,” Matthews said. “Teen love is hard enough when you’re human, but when you’re supernatural, it’s even worse.”
“I’d say our tone is certainly a little lighter than ‘The Originals’ and probably a little lighter than ‘Vampire Diaries,'” Matthews continued. “If you look at the first few episodes of season one of ‘Vampire Diaries,’ we kind of exist in that space. But we still have all the things that I think are our brand, which is horrible tragedy and epic romance.”
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Having admitted to a lighter tone, Matthews did reveal details about Hope Mikaelson’s mindset in the series. “I think she’s definitely somebody who is marked by tragedy. You can also take sarcasm and humor and snark as a defense mechanism for all of that. What we’re really trying to do is give Hope a voice that is really ernest to all the things she’s been through.”
Matthews also teased Alaric’s interactions with Hope in “Legacies.” “Hope’s life experiences allow him to treat her almost as an opal among the students, which of course causes rifts with all of her friends. She has abilities that are very useful for him.”
When it comes to the complex universe of the two shows preceding it, Matthews revealed that “Legacies” is aimed at viewers who have never seen either “The Vampire Diaries” or “The Originals.” “We’re definitely trying to make it so that you can walk in and start here. I think you can do that. We want to be a reflection of modern youth. But at the same time, if you are a longtime fan, it goes much deeper. And if you aren’t, hopefully, you’ll want to go back and watch the shows. If you do, I think you’ll get rewarded on an even deeper level, but we’re trying to build a show that works both for longtime fans and newcomers.”
Finally, Matthews teased what threats Hope and Alaric will face this season. “We’re trying to figure out what supernatural threats will endanger these kids,” Matthews said. “Villains have always been very important to these shows. The problem we always have is we tend to turn villains into heroes. Klaus was the worst person in the world and now he has his own show and we’re doing a show about his daughter. We’re going to do a lot of interesting things on that front.”
“Legacies” premieres October 25 on The CW.