| "Guest Starring John Noble" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Legends of Tomorrow episode | |||
 Grodd (David Sobolov) attempts to assassinate future PresidentBarack Obama (Lovell Adams-Gray). The scene was praised by critics who felt it was a good example of the comedic side ofLegends of Tomorrow[1][2] | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 3 Episode 17 | ||
| Directed by | Ralph Hemecker | ||
| Written by |
| ||
| Production code | T13.20617 | ||
| Original air date | April 2, 2018 (2018-04-02) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| Legends of Tomorrowseason 3 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Guest Starring John Noble" is the seventeenth and penultimate episode of thethird season of the American television seriesLegends of Tomorrow. It is set in theArrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series in the universe. The series revolves around aneponymous team of superheroes and their time-traveling adventures. The episode first aired onThe CW on April 2, 2018, to a live audience of 1.40 million viewers, with an additional 800 thousand on DVR.
The episode features the Legends traveling in time to preventDamien Darhk (Neal McDonough) from freeingMallus (John Noble). However, he realizes that freeing him will kill his daughter Nora (Courtney Ford), and he switches sides. Meanwhile,Amaya Jiwe (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) attempts to change the timeline to save her family from being killed.
"Guest Starring John Noble" was met with generally positive reviews from critics. Following the episode's release, a scene featuringGorilla Grodd attempting to assassinate future PresidentBarack Obama went viral on social media. The scene received high praise from critics, who noted it as a good example of the comedic side of the series.
The Legends travel to 1979 to stopGorilla Grodd from killing future presidentBarack Obama. The team rescues Obama and useRay Palmer's shrink ray to trap Grodd in a glass jar. Elsewhere,Damien Dahrk realizes that his daughterNora, whose body the demonMallus is using as a host, will be killed when Mallus is released. Damien allies himself with the Legends to save Nora. He gives up the Water Totem, one of the six mystical totems key to killing Mallus and the only one of the six he possesses. Ray realizes Mallus sounds like actorJohn Noble and travels to the set ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to get Noble to impersonate Mallus. Ray then uses Noble's voice to trick Nora onto theWaverider and imprison her.
After learning she is a clone,[a]Ava Sharpe asks her former boss and ex-captain of the LegendsRip Hunter if he knew. Rip revealed that he did and that she is the 12th AVA clone he has recruited. Meanwhile,Amaya Jiwe leaves the Legends to return to home to 1992 Zambesi. After her departure, Amaya plans to change history by preventing the destruction of her village. Her boyfriendNate Haywood is sent to try and change her mind but instead helps her.Sara Lance determines that only way to stop Mallus is to free him from his prison and kill him, she decides to allow Amaya to alter time and release Mallus. Believing Nora is dead anyways, Sara gives Damien the Death Totem and the rest of the team wields their individual totems. However, before they kill Mallus, Damien discovers that Nora is still alive in Mallus and releases Grodd to destroy Zambesi, correcting time and preventing Mallus' release. To save Zambesi, Nate subdues Grodd with the Earth Totem, allowing Mallus to break out of his prison and kill Nora.
"Guest Starring John Noble" was directed byRalph Hemecker and written byKeto Shimizu and James Eagan.[3] The episode starsCaity Lotz,Brandon Routh,Tala Ashe,Dominic Purcell,Keiynan Lonsdale,Maisie Richardson-Sellers,Nick Zano asSara Lance,Ray Palmer,Zari Tomaz,Mick Rory,Wally West, Amaya Jiwe, and Nate Haywood, respectively.[4][3]John Noble makes a guest appearance as himself in addition to his recurring role as the voice of the season's main villainMallus.[5] Noble appears dressed asDenethor, a character he portrayed in the 2001The Lord of the Rings film series.[6]Arthur Darvill,Jes Macallan,Courtney Ford andNeal McDonough reprise their respective roles asRip Hunter,Ava Sharpe,Nora Darhk, andDamien Darhk.[1][7] Despite her character having a major reveal in the previous episode, "I, Ava", Macallan plays a relatively minor role.[8]Lovell Adams-Gray makes a guest star appearance as a college aged version of former President of the United StatesBarack Obama.[9]David Sobolov voices theCGI characterGorilla Grodd.[4] Grodd previously appeared earlier in the seventh episode of the season, "Welcome to the Jungle", and inLegends of Tomorrow's parent showThe Flash.[10][8]
According to executive producerPhil Klemmer, the scene between Obama and Grodd was almost cut from episode due to budgetary concerns. Speaking toTVLine, he described Sara's line to Obama, "I really miss you", as "icing on an already delicious cake."[11] Ray's line to Obama, "Run Barry, run!", was a nod toThe Flash.[12] A scene with between Lotz and Darvill was filmed but cut. It featured Sara and Rip discussing how Sara replaced Rip as captain of the Legends. The scene was included on theLegends of Tomorrow season three DVD.[13] Speaking with Russ Burlingame ofComicBook.com, Richardson-Sellers called her experience playing the 72-year-old version of Amaya Jiwe "horrible" because of the elements involved in creating the character's look, particularly application process. To apply the makeup, Richardson-Sellers wore a full head cast with breathing holes for two hours. The makeup artists then spent four hours to "created a whole new face and neck" which they glued and spray painted onto her. Despite her discomfort, she described the final product as being "freakishly convincing."[14]
"Guest Starring John Noble" first aired in the United States onThe CW on April 2, 2018.[4] It premiered to 1.40 million live viewers with a 0.4/2 share among adults 18–49. The episode was the lowest viewed in its timeslot behind an airing of the2018 Winter Olympics, episodes ofCelebrity Big Brother andThe Bachelor, and a rerun ofLucifer. It was the highest viewed episode on The CW that night ahead of reruns ofWhose Line Is It Anyway?.[15] The episode was viewed by an additional 800 thousand viewers on DVR for a total audience of 2.04 million.[16]
Following the episode's release, the scene of Grodd attempting to kill Obama went viral on social media.[17][18] The clip briefly resurfaced in 2023 following theseries finale ofThe Flash as an example of the weirdness of bothLegends of Tomorrow and the Arrowverse as a whole.[19] It was featured on a 2025 episode ofLast Week Tonight with John Oliver, where comedianJohn Oliver jokingly called it "single-best ten seconds of TV I've ever seen".[20]
The Obama scene and Noble's cameo as himself was praised by critics.[1][2]The Guardian's Graeme Virtue labeled the inclusion of Obama as a high point forLegends of Tomorrow; he felt that it perfectly illustrated the comedic tone of the series.[2] Writing forBleeding Cool, Dan Wickline praised the episode's emotional beats as well as Noble's cameo as himself.[1] In a review forDen of Geek, Jim Dandeneau praised the episode. He felt the lines relating to Obama were the funniest of the episode. Dandeneau felt while the episode was mostly great, he found Mallus and Amaya to be disappointing.[8]
Writing forThe A.V. Club, Oliver Sava rated the episode an A-. He praised Noble's role in the episode, noting it as an example of the high quality writing and the show's "comedic appeal", writing, "they've already done plenty of crazy shit on this show, so why not bring in Noble for a quick physical cameo after voicing their main villain all season?" However, Sava criticizedMaisie Richardson-Sellers's makeup as the older version of Amaya as well as the relative minor roleTala Ashe plays in the episode.[21] In anIGN review for the third season ofLegends of Tomorrow, Jesse Schedeen criticized the character of Mallus and stated that Noble's performance as the character failed to stand out. He felt that Noble's cameo appearance alone was better than Mallus overall.[22]
