‘Chicago P.D’: Lisseth Chavez Exits to Join ‘DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow’

Lisseth Chavez is set to exit Chicago P.D. after a season-long stint as Officer Vanessa Rojas. As Deadline reported on Saturday, Chavez will be leaving Chicago P.D. and will subsequently join The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow. On Legends of Tomorrow, she will play Esperanza “Spooner” Cruz, a character who creates ingenious technology to detect and defend against space aliens.

Spooner, who survived an alien encounter as a child, believes that she can communicate telepathically with aliens. This ability would make her a promising recruit for Waverider captains Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), Ava Sharpe (Jez Macallan), and the rest of the Legends as they hunt down aliens who have been displaced throughout history in the upcoming Season 6. At a DC Fandome panel event held in late August, Legends of Tomorrow’s executive producer Grainne Godfrey shared what fans can expect of Spooner. Godfrey said, “She is a young Latinx woman from Texas, who was kidnapped by aliens and has a third for vengeance. She’s not going to be the loveable losers that we normally have, she’s going to be pretty tough and gives it to the other Legends and they’re going to have to react to her and I think it’s going to throw them off their feet a little bit.”

Deadline reported that Chavez’s option was not picked up for Chicago P.D.’s next season. Because the coronavirus pandemic cut filming short for the show’s previous season, her character Rojas did not get a proper conclusion on the show. As a result, Chicago P.D. will have to address her character’s exit at the start of next season, which will reportedly start filming soon. All three of the Chicago Universe shows — Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, and Chicago Med — had their seasons cut short because of the health crisis. The decision to halt these productions was reportedly made back in March. At the time, several members of the cast, including Chicago P.D.’s Jesse Lee Soffer, addressed this news online.

“In case you haven’t heard… Chicago PD along with the other Chicago shows have stopped filming,” Soffer wrote on Instagram on March 14. “It feels strange to cut a season short. There’s a lot of work we left undone. But everyone is taking the proper precautions given the current circumstances. Safety comes first, please be responsible and take care of your loved ones! As for us, we’ll be back before you know it. For now, just want to say thanks to all the fans, we love ya’ll. ( Elbow bump) We’ll see you soon.”