"Guest Starring John Noble" is the seventeenth and penultimate episode of the third season of the American television series Legends of Tomorrow. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe. The episode first aired on The CW on April 2, 2018, to a live audience of 1.40 million viewers with an additional 800 thousand on DVR.
"Guest Starring John Noble" was met with praise from critics. Following the episode's release, a scene featuring Gorilla Grodd attempting to assassinate future President Barack Obama went viral on social media. The episode received high praise from critics, who noted it as a good example of the comedic side of the series.
Plot
The Legends travel to 1979 to stop Gorilla Grodd from killing future president Barack Obama. The Legends rescue Obama and Ray Palmer uses his shrink ray to trap Grodd in a glass jar. Damien Dahrk realizes that his daughter Nora, whose body Mallus is using as a host, will be killed when Mallus is released; he allies himself with the Legends. He gives up the Water Totem, the only one of the six totems he possesses. Ray realizes Mallus sounds like actor John Noble and travels to the set of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to get Noble to impersonate Mallus. The Legend use Noble's voice to trick Nora onto the Waverider and imprison her.
After learning she is a clone,[a]Ava Sharpe asks Rip Hunter if he knew. Rip revealed that he did and informs her that she is the 12th AVA clone he has recruited. Meanwhile, Amaya Jiwe leaves the Legends to return to her home in 1992 Zambesi to change history by preventing the destruction of her village. Her ex-boyfriend Nate Haywood tries to get her to 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. So, she decides to allow Nate and Amaya to continue in order to cause the final change to the timeline required to release Mallus. She gives Damien the Death Totem, and the rest of the team wields their individual totems. However, Damien realizes that Nora is still alive in Mallus and releases Grodd to destroy Zambesi, preventing Mallus' release. Nate subdues Grodd with the Earth Totem, allowing Mallus to break out of his prison and kill Nora.
According to executive producer Phil Klemmer, the Obama and Grodd scene was almost cut from episode due to budgetary concerns. Klemmer also described Sara's line to Obama, "I really miss you", as "icing on an already delicious cake."[11] Ray telling Obama "Run Barry, run!" was a nod to The Flash, another show in the Arrowverse.[12] A scene with Lotz and Darvill featuring Sara and Rip discussing Sara serving as Rip's replacement as the leader of the Legends was shot but was cut. The scene was included on the Legends of Tomorrow season three DVD.[13] Speaking with Russ Burlingame of ComicBook.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 the makeup. She said, "I was sent to a full head cast[...] I was covered in plaster from my shoulders up with just two breathing holes for two hours. They then created a whole new face and neck for me that was glued on and spray painted over the course of four hours." She described the final product as being "freakishly convincing."[14]
Release
"Guest Starring John Noble" first aired in the United States on The 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 the 2018 Winter Olympics, episodes of Celebrity Big Brother and The Bachelor, and a rerun of Lucifer. It was the highest viewed episode on The CW that night ahead of reruns of Whose 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 the series finale of The Flash as an example of the weirdness of both Legends of Tomorrow and the Arrowverse as a whole.[19] It was featured on a 2025 episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, where comedian John Oliver jokingly called it "single-best ten seconds of TV I've ever seen".[20]
Critical reception
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 a high point for Legends of Tomorrow; he felt that it perfectly illustrated the comedic tone of the series.[2] Writing for Bleeding Cool, Dan Wickline praised the episode's emotional beats as well as Noble's cameo as himself.[1] Writing for The A.V. Club, Oliver Sava rated the episode an A-. Sava also praised Noble's role in the episode, noting it as an example of the writing's high quality writing, "It's hilarious in the moment and they probably brush it off, but then they realize that 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? This is the penultimate episode of the season and the stakes are extremely high, but the writers still decide to go with this very silly plot point because they realize the appeal of this show isn't doom and gloom." However, Sava criticized Maisie Richardson-Sellers's makeup as the older version of Amaya as well as the relative minor role Tala Ashe plays in the episode.[21]IGN's Jesse Schedeen criticized the character of Mallus and stated that Noble's performance as the character failed to stand out. Schedeen felt that Noble's cameo appearance alone was better than Mallus overall.[22]
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