Why Rip Hunter vanished from DC's Legends of Tomorrow

DC's Legends of Tomorrow viewers were left perplexed when Rip Hunter vanished into thin air from the American superhero action-adventure television series.

Despite going down a treat with fans, Arthur Darvill's character was written out of the superhero series after the season two premiere; the Time Master found himself in a complicated plot involving time-travel and an atomic bomb.

Now it has been revealed why a major character exited the series, and whether he will ever make his way back to the show.

It is now known that Darvill took time off from Legends to continue working on the third and final series of ITV's Broadchurch – reprising his role of Rev Paul Coates.

Darvill told Digital Spy: "They were very kind on Legends – Broadchurch is something that's been going on for a while, so they had to work around that. I was so pleased to finish off that journey on Broadchurch."

Discussing a potential comeback, he said: "Yeah, I do come back, in some way, to Legends of Tomorrow... but I can't talk about that! I always work on shows that you're not allowed to bloody talk about..."

Since Rip disappeared from the show, the Legends are now helmed by Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) as they battle The Legion of Doom.

On filming Broadchurch, he said: "I loved the second series of Broadchurch – I think it was really necessary to tell that part of the story – but I think this series has more of the feel of the first series."

Darvill, 34, stars alongside small screen big-timers David Tennant and Olivia Colman on the UK series, and new cast additions include Lenny Henry and Coronation Street's Julie Hesmondhalgh.

Broadchurch is set to be back on screens by early 2017.