Fringe vet John Noble originally joined Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 as the voice of the villain Mallus, and it has now been confirmed the actor will make a second appearance on the series, this time in the flesh. Considering Mallus has been confirmed to be an entirely CG villain, this news may sound confusing, and the explanation only makes things slightly less perplexing. A live-action Noble will indeed appear in an upcoming episode of Legends of Tomorrow, but he'll actually be playing John Noble.
In a move that Marc Guggenheim described as "Legends-like," John Noble will be appearing as his real-world self on an upcoming episode of DC's Legends of Tomorrow. As for when all this will go down, Guggenheim and the crew are remaining silent about when the acting legend will grace the series in full. In fact, EW reports no news has been revealed about Noble's casting beyond his "role," though you'd think they'd want to offer up something, since this is one of the wildest castings the series has announced thus far.
News of a real-world actor playing himself in an Arrow-verse show may be surprising, but it should be expected. Legends of Tomorrow has featured existing past and present figures like George Lucas and J.R.R. Tolkien in its adventures, although those instances featured actors' portrayals and not the people playing themselves. Noble's casting is a bit strange, but still explainable, given Cisco Ramon's shirts and other pop-culture references on The Flash indicate shows like The Big Bang Theory and others exist in the Arrow-verse. If those are around, surely television shows like Fringe are, right? It's really a shame John Noble isn't appearing on The Flash, since the Arrow-verse is missing a golden opportunity to team-up Noble's Denethor II with Wells The Gray!
Goofy Lord of the Rings team-ups aside, Marc Guggenheim correctly stated that if John Noble could appear anywhere in the Arrow-verse, Legends of Tomorrow is the place to have it go down. Noble can be worked in and out of the plotline without a ton of explanation, and it's not like an entire episode would need to be built around him. One does have to wonder though if this episode will feature Noble portraying himself and also voicing the CGI Mallus in the same scene. Or perhaps the time demon will possess John Noble, adding extra meta layers. Even for Legends of Tomorrow, that might be a little too goofy.
Legends of Tomorrow airs on The CW on Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET. For a look at some other upcoming shows that will almost certainly not feature John Noble as himself, head on over to our midseason premiere guide. For more information on another primary Legends voice actress who will also be appearing in live-action soon, click here.
