Invasion! (Arrowverse)

"Invasion!"
Arrowverse crossover event

Tetraptych promotional posters for "Invasion!" for (L to R) Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow
Also known as
  • "Heroes v Aliens"
  • "Heroes Unite"
Episode nos.
Directed by
Story by
Teleplay by
Production codes
  • T27.13108 (Flash)
  • T27.13208 (Arrow)
  • T13.20007 (LoT)
Original air dates
  • November 29, 2016 (2016-11-29) (Flash)
  • November 30, 2016 (2016-11-30) (Arrow)
  • December 1, 2016 (2016-12-01) (LoT)
Episode chronology
Preceded by "Heroes Join Forces"

"Invasion!" is the third annual Arrowverse crossover event, crossing over episodes of the Arrowverse television series The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow on The CW, and is inspired by the 1989 comic miniseries Invasion!. Events at the end of the Supergirl episode "Medusa" on November 28, 2016 marked the beginning of the crossover, which officially began on November 29 with The Flash, continued on Arrow on November 30, and concluded on Legends of Tomorrow on December 1. Each of the latter three episodes were titled "Invasion!". "Invasion!" sees Barry Allen recruit Kara Danvers / Supergirl to his Earth to help his team, Oliver Queen and his team, and the Legends defeat the alien race known as the Dominators.

Development for a crossover between the three series, along with Supergirl, began in May 2016 after it was revealed that Supergirl would move to The CW from CBS for its second season. By the following September, the scripts for each episode had been written, with filming occurring shortly after, in October 2016. The premise and episode titles were also revealed that month. "Invasion!" sees all of the main cast members for each series appear in at least their own series, with Melissa Benoist appearing as Supergirl across the entire crossover. Multiple actors and characters from previous Arrow seasons also return to reprise their roles, as Arrow's episode doubled as its 100th.

The three episodes of the crossover all received positive reviews, with critics praising the interactions between all of the various actors from each series, and the fact that each episode was also able to progress season storylines while still being part of the crossover. Conversely, the Dominators storyline felt like the weakest part of the crossover, with reviewers feeling the alien race had unclear motivations throughout. Ratings for the episodes were exceptional, with each breaking records in viewership and the 18-49 rating, contributing to the most-watched week on The CW in six years.

Plot

Barry Allen/Flash investigates a meteor crash outside Central City that turns out to be a spaceship from which aliens emerge. Lyla Michaels tells the team that the "Dominators" landed previously in the 1950s, but then mysteriously departed. Needing help, Barry assembles the original members of Team Arrow, Thea Queen, the Legends, and Kara Danvers, Supergirl of Earth-38. The assembled team begins training at a S.T.A.R. Labs facility, sparring against Supergirl to prepare against the aliens. Kara struggles to earn Oliver Queen's trust, seeing that the Green Arrow is the most revered hero in the superhero community of this world paralleling her cousin's (Superman) status on hers despite not having any powers. Cisco Ramon finds and reveals a message Barry's future self sent to Rip Hunter, which exposes Barry's manipulation of the timeline and how it affected other team members; only Oliver, Kara, Felicity Smoak, Martin Stein and Jefferson Jackson still trust him. After the Dominators abduct the President of the United States, the team goes to rescue him, but Barry is forced to remain behind as the majority of them distrust him. Oliver is also forced to stay behind when he attempts to stand up for Barry. Kara leads the group, finding the President but the Dominators kill him as soon as they find him and affect the group with a mind control device. The controlled heroes return and attack S.T.A.R. Labs, forcing Barry and Oliver to confront them. While Oliver holds them off, Barry lures Kara to the device and manipulates her into destroying it, freeing everyone from the Dominators' control. Once the team regroups, as Ray Palmer tells Barry that everyone on the team forgives and still trusts him, Sara Lance, Ray, John Diggle, Thea, and Oliver are abducted by the Dominators.

The five abducted are being held unconscious inside pods about a Dominators ship, with their minds in a shared hallucination. In the hallucination, Oliver finds himself back at Queen Manor, having never gotten on The Queen's Gambit, where he is about to be married to Laurel Lance, both his parents are alive, and Diggle is the Hood. Oliver begins seeing flashes of his former life, as do Sara, Ray, Diggle, and Thea, making them realize what the Dominators have done to them. They decide to try and escape, but their attempt is blocked by each of their own enemy: Malcolm Merlyn, Deathstroke and one of his Mirakuru soldiers (who killed Ray's fiancée Anna Loring), Damien Darhk and his H.I.V.E. soldiers (including Andy Diggle). The adversaries are all defeated, and the captives are able to escape, resulting in them waking up inside the Dominators ship. Escaping in a shuttle, they are rescued by Nate Heywood, who pilots the time ship Waverider. Meanwhile, Felicity, Curtis Holt and Cisco try to hack into the Dominators' mainframe using a piece of their technology, recovering a necessary device with the help of Barry and Kara to locate the captives. Aboard the Waverider, Ray deduces that the Dominators were gathering information from their minds about metahumans, using the hallucination as a distraction, to help them complete a special "weapon". Elsewhere, the Dominator mothership heads towards Earth.

With everyone now back in 2016, Nate reveals the first Dominator invasion to have been in Oregon, 1951. He takes Mick Rory, Amaya Jiwe, Felicity and Cisco to kidnap a Dominator for information. The Legends successfully capture a Dominator to interrogate, but are themselves captured by federal agents. While in custody, the Legends learn from the Dominator that the aliens arrived to assess the threat humanity posed now that metahumans have appeared due to the Justice Society of America. Felicity and Cisco rescue the Legends and help set the Dominator free. Meanwhile, in Central City 2016, the team learns that the Dominators know about Barry's manipulation of the timeline, deeming him as a threat, and that they demand his surrender in exchange for peace. After the Legends return, the team discovers that the Dominators' weapon is a bomb that will kill all metahumans on Earth, with millions of collateral human casualties. The teams dissuade Barry from surrendering, with Cisco reconciling with him, having realized that continuing the estrangement against Barry was hypocritical of him (having just changed the past-himself). Firestorm manages to transmute the bomb into a liquid and the teams force the Dominators to retreat using a pain-inflicting nano-weapon. Later, as the heroes celebrate their victory, Oliver offers Kara his friendship, and Cisco gives her an interdimensional device that will allow her to travel and communicate between Earth-1 and Earth-38. Martin persuades Jefferson not to tell the others of his daughter, Lily, whose existence is the result of a temporal paradox he inadvertently caused when the Legends were in 1987.

Cast and characters

Main and recurring

Actor Character Episode
The Flash Arrow Legends of Tomorrow
Grant Gustin[1] Barry Allen / Flash[lower-alpha 1] Main Guest
Candice Patton[1] Iris West Main Does not appear
Danielle Panabaker[1] Caitlin Snow Main Does not appear Guest
Carlos Valdes[1] Cisco Ramon / Vibe[lower-alpha 1] Main Guest
Keiynan Lonsdale[1] Wally West / Kid Flash Main Does not appear
Tom Cavanagh[1] Harrison "H.R." Wells Main Does not appear
Jesse L. Martin[1] Joe West Main Does not appear
Stephen Amell[1] Oliver Queen / Green Arrow Guest Main Guest
Franz Drameh[1] Jefferson Jackson / Firestorm Guest Does not appear Main
Victor Garber[1] Martin Stein / Firestorm Guest Does not appear Main
Willa Holland[1] Thea Queen / Speedy Guest Main Does not appear
Caity Lotz[1] Sara Lance / White Canary Guest Main
Dominic Purcell[1] Mick Rory / Heat Wave Guest Does not appear Main
David Ramsey[1] John Diggle / Spartan Guest Main Guest
Emily Bett Rickards[1] Felicity Smoak / Overwatch Guest Main Guest
Brandon Routh[1] Ray Palmer / Atom Guest Main
Melissa Benoist[1] Kara Zor-El / Kara Danvers / Supergirl Guest
Christina Brucato[3] Lily Stein Guest Does not appear Guest
Donnelly Rhodes[4] "Glasses"[5] Guest Does not appear Guest
Echo Kellum[1] Curtis Holt / Mister Terrific Does not appear Main Does not appear
Josh Segarra[1] Adrian Chase Does not appear Main[lower-alpha 2] Does not appear
Paul Blackthorne[1] Quentin Lance Does not appear Main Does not appear
Nick Zano[1] Nathan Heywood / Steel Does not appear Guest Main
Amy Pemberton[1][6] Gideon Does not appear Co-starring Main
Maisie Richardson-Sellers[1] Amaya Jiwe / Vixen Does not appear Main
  1. 1 2 Barry and Cisco both appear at the end of the Supergirl episode "Medusa", to recruit Supergirl.[2]
  2. ↑ Despite being credited, Segarra does not appear.[1]

Guest

The Flash

Legends of Tomorrow

  • Lucia Walters as President Susan Brayden[7]

Arrow

  1. 1 2 Donnell and Haynes appear via archival recordings.[12]

Production

Development

Yearly crossover events in the Arrowverse have occurred on The CW since the 2013–14 television season, when Barry Allen was introduced in the eighth episode of Arrow's second season ahead of the debut of The Flash. The next year, the eighth episodes of the third season of Arrow and the first season of The Flash formed a two-part event known as "Flash vs. Arrow". In the 2015–16 television season, a two-part event between the eighth episodes of the fourth season of Arrow and the second season of The Flash was used to set up the new team-up series Legends of Tomorrow.[13] In January 2015, The CW president Mark Pedowitz stated the intention to have an Arrowverse crossover every season.[14]

In May 2016, after it was announced that Supergirl would air its second season on The CW instead of CBS, Pedowitz revealed that all four series—Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl—would crossover in the upcoming 2016–17 television season.[13] In September 2016, Greg Berlanti, creator and executive producer on all four series, clarified that the crossover event would only officially involve The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow,[15] though the event starts at the very end of the Supergirl episode "Medusa", with Barry and Cisco Ramon arriving on Supergirl's Earth to recruit her.[2] Andrew Kreisberg, executive producer on Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl, spoke more on why the crossover did not include Supergirl, saying that since "Medusa" also served as the mid-season finale for Supergirl, and the other three series have theirs in a subsequent episode after the crossover, "We wanted to make sure that ["Medusa"] spoke to what had been happening on the first seven episodes of Supergirl and not just as a tie in." He added that, logistically, it would have been very difficult to incorporate the four series, also noting that finding the time for Melissa Benoist to shoot material for the other three series had its own complications, noting, "Hopefully people didn't realize it, but Kara was not in a lot of episode 7 of Supergirl... specifically to free her up for five days so that she could appear in all these other episodes."[16] He expanded on these difficulties stating, "The thing that we didn’t really plan on — because we weren’t aware that we were going to switch Supergirl from CBS to CW and it was really going to be part of it — that was the one show that didn't have built-in shut-down days, so all the other ones did... Supergirl was the one we needed to shut down the most and it was the one that we didn’t have any opportunity to."[17]

It was also announced in September that the villains of the event would be the Dominators, in a story inspired by the 1989 comic miniseries Invasion!  [18] The Dominators were chosen because the writers "collectively wanted the superheroes to face an external threat" meaning "a threat that came from outside of the shows" rather than extraterrestrial.[19] The following month, Marc Guggenheim, creator and executive producer on Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, revealed the title of each episode in the crossover would be "Invasion!".[20]

In November 2016, Kreisberg revealed that the Dominators would appear on Supergirl "later this season" after the crossover event.[21] Guggenheim also revealed that the initial script for The Flash would have seen Lynda Carter appear as the Vice President, becoming the President after his death in the episode (Carter appears as President Olivia Marsdin on Supergirl). This did not occur, due to a note from the studio, "which was that it was a bit too confusing. You get into the parallel Earths of it all but she's not the President on our Earth but the Vice President. In the midst of time travel and aliens, it was just one sci-fi problem too much." On this, Guggenheim noted "he understood the note and conceded that if people at the studio were confused by the script, it was probably not particularly friendly to casual fans."[22]

Writing

Scripts for "Invasion!" were written in mid-September 2016, with Berlanti creating the story for the event, and Kreisberg also helping to craft the story of The Flash episode.[23][24][25] The teleplay for The Flash was written by showrunners Aaron Helbing & Todd Helbing,[25] with Arrow's written by showrunners Guggenheim & Wendy Mericle,[23] and showrunners Phil Klemmer & Guggenheim writing the teleplay for Legends of Tomorrow.[24] Once the Dominators were chosen as the threat for the crossover, the writers were able to justify the necessity of all the heroes coming together, since Supergirl "is knowledgable about these particular enemies, the Legends can help better understand the last time the Dominators visited Earth thanks to their time travel capabilities, and both Teams Flash and Arrow have a diverse array of capable heroes who are able to understand and counter just about every imaginable threat."[19]

Arrow's episode of the crossover is also the series' 100th. Guggenheim felt Berlanti "came up with an idea that really does allow us to have our cake and eat it too" in terms of respecting Arrow as a whole, while incorporating it into the crossover, adding "It is a love letter to the show. It draws on all previous 99 episodes, pretty much. Everyone who we could have in the episode from a scheduling point of view is in the episode. Even the people who we couldn't have because of conflicting schedules are represented."[2] At the end of The Flash episode, Oliver, Thea, Sara, Diggle, and Ray are captured by the Dominators and are held in a stasis, with their minds occupied in a "shared hallucination", which allowed the writers "to revisit footage from the previous 99 episodes" in the memory flashes the characters experience.[26]

Filming

Filming of the three episodes occurred from September 23, 2016, until October 12, 2016.[23][24] The three episodes were filmed concurrently, with some cast members shooting scenes for multiple series each day. Filming occurred at the Boundary Bay Airport.[27] The Flash's episode was directed by Dermott Downs,[28][25] Arrow's by James Bamford,[23] and Legend of Tomorrow's by Gregory Smith.[24]

Visual effects

Visual effects for the crossover were completed by Encore Post and Zoic Studios.[29][12] The Dominators were created using "cutting-edge prosthetics and computer effects... to achieve a feature film-quality look which is faithful to Invasion! artist Todd McFarlane's interpretation of the characters."[18] The design of the Dominators originally included the green robes they wear in the comics. However, once the decision was made to create the species fully in CGI, "the robes had to go away, because the presence of the robes made animating them prohibitively impossible."[30]

The S.T.A.R. Labs facility where the heroes initially meet was made to look like the Hall of Justice from the Super Friends animated series. Guggenheim noted, "We were talking about where to put [the facility]—we were talking about maybe it was an old warehouse or whatever. Someone said something that made me think, 'You know, there's this building in Cincinnati that is the basis for the Hall of Justice in the Super Friends. I'm sure there's stock footage that we could then alter.' That's what we ended up doing... Props to Encore who did an amazing job of altering it in all the right ways. Putting the waterpool in the front and the sculptures".[29]

At the end of the Arrow episode, Colin Donnell and Colton Haynes appear as holograms, reprising their roles as Tommy Merlyn and Roy Harper, respectively. Both appeared as such, opposed to physical appearances, due to other commitments, and were unable to be reshot for the appearance. Guggenheim stated that, as a result, Zoic Studios "had to take them from the old episodes and roto them out and then put them into this. It was hard, obviously because they had to work with preexisting footage. Yes, they had [many] episodes to choose from, but it was a lot harder than that makes it sound."[12]

Broadcast

After beginning in the ending scene of the November 28, 2016 episode of Supergirl, the first part on The Flash aired on November 29, followed by part two on Arrow on November 30, and concluding with part three on Legends of Tomorrow on December 1, all on The CW.[28]

Marketing

Despite "Invasion!" only occurring in three of the four CW series, the event, marketed as "Heroes v Aliens", was referred to as a "four-night crossover event" beginning with the Supergirl episode.[31] In Canada, where The Flash, Arrow and Legends all air on CTV Television Network, the crossover was marketed as a three-night event called "Heroes United".[32] In addition, a faux classified U.S. government video was released, set approximately 70 years in the past, detailing the Dominators' first attempt to conquer Earth.[33] A full trailer for the crossover was released on November 23, 2016.[34]

Reception

Ratings

Series Air date Rating/share
(18–49)		 Viewers
(millions)		 DVR
(18–49)		 DVR viewers
(millions)		 Total
(18–49)		 Total viewers
(millions)
The Flash November 29, 2016 1.5/5 4.15[35] 0.9 2.17 2.4 6.31[36]
Arrow November 30, 2016 1.3/5 3.55[37] 0.7 1.80 2.0 5.34[36]
Legends of Tomorrow December 1, 2016 1.2/4 3.39[38] 0.7 1.84 1.9 5.24[36]

"Invasion!" helped the CW earn its most-watched week in six years.[39] The Flash episode saw a season three-high viewership, which was the show's largest since December 9, 2014, and a season three-high 18–49 rating, the highest since February 16, 2016. The episode improved 40% and 36% in viewership and the 18–49 rating, respectively, from the previous episode, "Killer Frost".[40] It was also up 5% in total viewers and 7% in the 18–49 rating from last year's crossover with Arrow.[41] For Arrow, the episode saw a season five-high viewership and 18–49 rating, with the viewership on par with last year's crossover on December 2, 2016 and the 18–49 rating the best since.[42] The episode improved 120% and 86% in viewership and the 18–49 rating, respectively, from the previous episode, "Vigilante". The Legends of Tomorrow episode saw a series-high viewership and a season two-high 18–49 rating, which tied the rating set by the pilot on January 21, 2016.[39] The episode improved 80% and 83% in viewership and the 18–49 rating, respectively, from the previous episode, "Outlaw Country",[43] and helped contribute to the most watched Thursday on The CW in four years.[44]

Critical response

Speaking of the crossover as a whole, Oliver Sava at The A.V. Club felt the episodes did "admirable work advancing the overarching narrative while maintaining each show's distinct perspective" along with being "a hell of a lot of fun, and it's significantly expanded the scope of the Arrowverse by bringing in an extraterrestrial enemy... There's an entire universe to explore, and this crossover has opened the door for the CW's DC shows to go cosmic in the future."[45] Ed Gross for Empire stated, ""Invasion" is the proverbial mixed bag. As a crossover, it does an extremely effective job in bringing the characters from four different shows together, the rapport between them feeling natural and oftentimes genuinely funny... The real problem with "Invasion" is that it was intended to be, and was promoted as, a massive adventure, but in reality the whole Dominators storyline was rather underwhelming. Part of that is creative – it would have been better to get a fuller understanding of who these beings really are and how they're able to know the long-term effects of Flashpoint; plus the resolution seems awfully pat... and lacks the resolutionary scope that was expected." Despite some of the criticism, Gross gave the crossover 4 stars out of 5.[1] Collider.com's Allison Keene said, "On the positive side, the interactions among cast members of the four shows – Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow – were as delightful as ever. Though Arrow is often the anchor, The Flash usually sets the tone for the crossovers, and so the other shows incorporate its light-hearted, witty banter and a fast-paced action and editing... But on the negative side, the crossovers can also starkly highlight each show's weaknesses," concluding, "There are things "Invasion!" as a whole did really well, and others it didn't, with each series' strengths and weaknesses being highlighted and tested. But with each new expansion, there are things the shows can learn from, and it remains fun for fans".[46]

The Flash

Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave The Flash episode an 8.4 out of 10. He said, "As expected, there was a ton of appeal in seeing so many heroes joining forces on the small screen. But without a well-defined enemy to unify these heroes, it was often the Flashpoint-related character drama that propelled this first act." Schedeen added, "Everyone had their moment to shine, even more minor players like Felicity and Thea. But if there was one subplot that felt unnecessary and out of place, it was Wally's," calling it "forced". He also appreciated the focus on fall out from Flashpoint, calling it "one of the biggest flaws of Season 3 so far" on The Flash, and hoped more of the Dominators' comic backstory would come into play in the other two episodes of the crossover.[47] The A.V. Club's Scott Von Doviak awarded the episode a "B+", saying "Even by the usual standards of a CW superhero crossover, "Invasion!" is an absurdly overstuffed kickoff to a three-night event. Not only does the episode bring the casts of four different shows together, with all the tangled relationships that entails, it also continues to advance the story arcs of this season of The Flash and finds a way to weave those ongoing conflicts into the multi-series story of an alien invasion." However, Von Doviak questioned some of the events of the episodes, such as Barry being knowledgable of the Legends adventures and not caring about secret identities, and felt viewers "who don't necessarily follow the other three shows religiously are at a disadvantage".[48]

Carla Day writing for Collider.com gave The Flash episode 5 stars out of 5, calling the episode "brilliant" saying, "With so many characters on the scene, it would have been easy for the show to get overwhelmed by them all and lose The Flash's unique look and tone. But the writers effectively incorporated the other DC series' characters into the episode while keeping the show's light-hearted and funny demeanor... the standard has been set high for the Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow's "Invasion!" hours." Day's one complaint was the fact the Dominators motivations were not very clear.[49] Entertainment Weekly's Chancellor Agard awarded The Flash episode an "A-", stating, "Based on tonight's episode alone, this year's crossover is looking like it'll be the best one yet. The first crossovers were two relatively standalone episodes, and last year's was burdened with setting up Legends of Tomorrow. This is really the first time Berlanti and Co. can tell a cohesive story, and it seems like it's paying off... That being said, the episode did drag a bit whenever it focused too much on the ongoing Team Flash drama... [and] my biggest problems were with the Wally stuff. However, I understand that was here for viewers who might only watch The Flash, and the episode does a good job of appeasing both kinds of fans. Luckily, though, the nonsense doesn't drag the episode too much: For every anxious scene, there was a funny aside to lighten the mood."[8]

Arrow

Schedeen awarded Arrow's episode an 8.7 out of 10, stating, "This Arrow episode worked much better as a 100th episode celebration than it did the middle act of the Invasion crossover. The Cisco/Team Arrow subplot did little to advance the larger narrative. On the other hand, the dream prison premise served as an emotionally rich and action-packed way to celebrate the show's first 100 episodes. But with only one episode left to go in this crossover, the pacing really needs to pick up if fans are going to get the epic superhero mash-up they deserve."[50] Alasdair Wilkins for The A.V. Club gave Arrow an "A", saying, ""Invasion!" could have been an unholy mess, balancing the needs of a three-part crossover with the Arrow-specific celebration of the 100-episode milestone. But the decision to focus on the show's past and bring back old favorites like Moira, Deathstroke, Robert, and Moira—Moira is worth listing twice—ends up giving the show a way to develop the power and the threat of the Dominators without this crossover just being three straight episodes of heroes and aliens punching each other. Tonight's episode also once again proves that Arrow doesn't need to be gloomy or choked by petty interpersonal conflict to tell effective stories". Wilkins concluded: "If this is how Arrow marks 100 episodes, then here's to 100 more. If this isn’t the best episode in Arrow's history, it's damn close."[51]

Collider.com's Kayti Burt felt the episode of Arrow "gets enough nostalgic hits in to make it work, while also giving us an exciting (batshit crazy) final act to launch us into the final part of the superhero crossover... Though the shared hallucination gimmick might lack long-term narrative consequence and feel like a bit of a 'Look, It's The 100th Episode!' plot device, it works because of the performance of all of the actors (including many returning ones) and the sentiment that this show has genuinely inspired in people." Conversely, Burt "was a bit sad that Arrow was robbed the opportunity of having a 100th episode outside of the already considerable demands of the crossover event, which were sometimes at odds with what this episode was trying to do... This episode was trying to do far too much and was therefore a bit of a mess, but it's hard to dislike an hour of TV that is earnestly trying to please its fans in so many different ways." She gave the episode 3 stars out of 5.[52] Sara Netzley, for Entertainment Weekly praised the episode, awarding it an "A", saying "Lots of Arrow action here, and not as much for The Flash/Supergirl folks to do. Still, it all worked beautifully. We get enough cross-team action to make it a treat for viewers of the Berlanti-verse while still forwarding the invasion story line – and honoring the characters, plots, and themes that have made Arrow such a satisfying show over the last four and a half seasons. It was a tall order, but the episode pulled it off."[53]

Legends of Tomorrow

Giving the episode an 8.8 out of 10, Schedeen stated, "The Invasion crossover ended on a strong note. This episode delivered the most on the promise of superheroes joining forces to battle alien invaders. And even if there were a few points of frustration (mainly involving a lack of Supergirl early on), it made the most of the premise and delivered a rousing final battle." He also enjoyed that, by the end, the back story revealed for the Dominators gave them "clear motivations and [they] no longer felt like a completely faceless, generic alien threat" and that the plot device of Cisco creating a device for Supergirl to travel between universes "paved the way for more frequent crossovers between Supergirl and the rest of the Arrowverse."[54] Sava gave the Legends of Tomorrow episode an "A-", stating, "while Legends of Tomorrow's crossover finale doesn't pack the emotional punch of [Arrow's] episode, it's a strong conclusion that has the good guys saving the day and learning more about themselves in the process." Regarding the final battle, Sava called it "anticlimactic" and added, "I would have liked to see more creative use of all the different powers in this group working together, and the fight would be more satisfying if there was a stronger sense of collaboration among the human/metahuman fighters."[45]

Entertainment Weekly's Shirley Li awarded the episode a "B+" saying, "Judging this episode on its own, I'd say it didn't feel at all like a Legends of Tomorrow episode, despite all the quips from Mick and the blue chyron and the time traveling. Though Stein got an emotional arc, the rest of the emotional story belonged to Barry and the tediously angry Cisco, making this almost like a second Flash episode... Yet, much of this episode worked as an hour-long finale. Everyone got a chance to shine, and though the Dominators' motive is still somewhat muddled, the invasion sparked fun rapport among the teams – and isn't that the whole point of a crossover in the first place? This might not drive any non-Legends viewers to watch Legends, but the episode gave plenty to Arrowverse fans." Li also felt some of the potential "budgetary constraints were glaring" such as the fact that Thea did not appear in the episode, and Oliver's "lash out" at Kara to have her not be at the confrontation with "Glasses".[55]

Accolades

Comic Book Resources named The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow episodes the 16th, 10th and 3rd best episodes in 2016 among comic book-related television series, respectively.[56]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Gross, Ed (December 2, 2016). "Review: The Flash, Supergirl, Arrow, Legends Of Tomorrow crossover — Invasion". Empire. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Abrams, Natalie (October 18, 2016). "Arrow boss teases 100th episode, crossover catalyst". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ Petski, Denise (November 29, 2016). "'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' Adds Christina Brucato As Recurring". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  4. ↑ Tremeer, Eleanor (December 2, 2016). "'Legends of Tomorrow' Made The Best 'Star Trek' Reference Ever – Easter Eggs From "Invasion!"". Movie Pilot. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  5. ↑ Abrams, Natalie (December 1, 2016). "The Dominators will return on Supergirl – here's why that's scary". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Somosot, Janice (December 1, 2016). "'Arrow' 100th Episode Features A Shared Hallucination Between Oliver, Thea, Diggle, Ray & Sara". International Business Times Philippines. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  7. 1 2 Holmes, Adam (December 2, 2016). "Why Supergirl's Lynda Carter Wasn't in the Big DC TV Crossover As Planned". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Agard, Chancellor (November 29, 2016). "The Flash recap: 'Invasion!'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Abrams, Natalie (September 29, 2016). "Arrow: Susanna Thompson returning for 100th episode". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 18, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Gallaway, Lauren (September 23, 2016). "[SPOILER] IS RETURNING FOR ARROW'S 100TH EPISODE". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 29, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  11. ↑ Damore, Meagan (April 10, 2017). "Arrow: Manu Bennett's Deathstroke Will Return, Confirms Stephen Amell". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  12. 1 2 3 Burlingame, Russ (November 30, 2016). "How Colton Haynes and Colin Donnell Appeared on Arrow's 100th Episode". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  13. 1 2 Abrams, Natalie (May 19, 2016). "The CW announces four-way crossover with Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 22, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  14. ↑ Nguyen, Hanh (January 11, 2015). "The CW Renews Supernatural and 7 More – But Where's Beauty and the Beast?". TV Guide. Archived from the original on April 30, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  15. ↑ Schneider, Michael (September 9, 2016). "Greg Berlanti Interview: How TV's Superhero Guru is Managing Crossovers, 'Supergirl's Move and New Inspirations". Indiewire. Archived from the original on November 17, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
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  17. ↑ Abrams, Natalie (February 24, 2017). "CW eyes true four-way superhero crossover next season". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
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