Pilot (The Nevers)

Joss Whedon wrote and directed the pilot episode.

On July 13, 2018, HBO announced that they gave a straight-to-series order to the show, after a bidding war with other networks and streaming services including Netflix. Whedon said, "I honestly couldn't be more excited. The Nevers is maybe the most ambitious narrative I've created, and I can't imagine a better home for it than HBO. Not only are they the masters of cinematic longform, but their instant understanding of my odd, intimate epic was as emotional as it was incisive. It's been too long since I created an entirely new fictional world, and the HBO team offers not just scope and experience, not just 'prestige,' but a passionate collaboration."[1] Casey Bloys, HBO Programming President, said, "We have long been fans of the incredibly talented and prolific Joss Whedon and we can't think of a better project than The Nevers with which to welcome him to the HBO family. We look forward to meeting the strange, multifaceted characters of The Nevers, to learn their stories, see them in action and share them with our viewers. We're honored that Joss chose HBO as the place to build his ambitious new world and we are excited to get started."[2]

Gemma Jackson served as the production designer for the show. She commented, "I read the script and took lots of images when I went to see him [Whedon], and I hit the spot with my research. Joss loved my ideas about the Galanthi [the aliens that help humanity], which had never been seen before. I think that made him excited. We started to talk about this world with these people having extraordinary things happen to them. It wasn't a straightforward process, ideas developed organically."[3]

Laura Donnelly was the first actress to join the series in April 2019. Whedon spoke about her, "Laura Donnelly has charisma, wisdom and an anarchic precision that not only captures Amalia but defines her. She's fierce and she's funny – and I need both for the journey ahead."[4] In July 2019, the rest of the cast was announced, with Olivia Williams, James Norton, Tom Riley, Ann Skelly, Ben Chaplin, Pip Torrens, Zackary Momoh, Amy Manson, Nick Frost, Rochelle Neil, Eleanor Tomlinson and Denis O'Hare joining the series.[5] In August 2019, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Elizabeth Berrington, Ella Smith, Viola Prettejohn and Anna Devlin joined as series regulars.[6]

On July 4, 2019, Whedon announced that principal photography had started, with filming occurring in London.[7][8] The scenes at the opera were filmed in the New Wimbledon Theatre area.[9] In order to film the scene where Mary used her angelic voice and its effect on its audience, executive producer Jane Espenson mentioned the use of a light effect that's not meant to symbolize an actual visible light that everyone in the set saw, which helped to see keep ambiguity in the scene.[10] On August 14, Ann Skelly confirmed that filming for the episode had wrapped.[11]

Academy Award winner Christine Blundell served as the hair and makeup designer. She said that inspiration came from modern-day punk in order to help with the visual world of the series.[10] The inspiration for Penance's motocar originated at a vintage car show, with Jackson referring to a 1920s prototype for an amphibian vehicle with overlapping metal panels. "As we worked on the design and how to make the carriage apparently birth the car, we found ourselves looking at organic shapes, crustaceans, beetles. We needed something which telescopically folded into itself in preparation for flying out into the world. Once we had found the basis for the car, the rest was focused on using great materials like metals, copper, leather, and anything else required to hold it all together and to be strong enough for some hard work."[3]

For the last scene with the spaceship, Jackson took inspiration from research belonging to known zoologist Ernst Haeckel, commenting, "The inspirations came from underwater things with natural membrane and skin and extraordinary organisms that grow out of themselves and multiply. I also got a sense that it had its own moisture feel to it, sort of like your eye has. And one wants to have the feeling of a living, breathing organism inside it. It had to have an exoskeleton with a soft, pounding interior, which is all glowing. It’s an incredibly powerful creature that’s there for all the good reasons as the source of empowerment."[3]

In its original American broadcast, "Pilot" was seen by an estimated 0.548 million household viewers and gained a 0.10 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.[12] On HBO Max, the show scored the best debut for a new original series on the site and drew over 1.4 million viewers across linear telecasts and digital.[13]

The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Alan Sepinwall from Rolling Stone gave it a 2.5 out of 5 rating and wrote, "The Nevers still feels like a Joss Whedon show, for good and for ill, with most of the downside that comes from his work and only occasional glimmers of what made him beloved before he became toxic."[14] Ben Travers from IndieWire gave it a C+ and wrote, "The Nevers' inconsistencies can make for a maddening viewing experience — sending you from the edge of your seat to sprawled out on the floor, trying to find your eyes after they rolled out of your head — and far too many parts make zero sense whatsoever. But I'd be lying if I said I'm done with The Nevers. Whether it's the allure of watching a trainwreck in motion or that the intermittent flourishes add up to just enough entertainment, I'll at least catch the final two episodes of Part 1. I can't say never to The Nevers, even if I have no idea what it means."[15]

Judy Berman from TIME wrote, "On top of the character dumps, they give us prolonged fight scenes, cool superpowers, bare breasts—enough distractions that we hopefully forget to look for a story worth telling. There is a lot going on in The Nevers. The only thing it seems to lack is a point."[16] Brian Lowry from CNN wrote, "Given the premise, The Nevers still has the potential to regain its momentum, and as they say, never say never. But watching beyond the premiere, it's hard not to conclude that the series simply lacks the right touch."[17] Daniel Fienberg from The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "A generous take on The Nevers is that it's a fin de siècle X-Men, or maybe a Victorian Watchmen. A less generous take is that it's a more expensive version of Fox's The Gifted, one made without any clear understanding of hour-long cable narrative rhythm, structure or momentum."[18]

Not all reviews were negative. Lorraine Ali from the Los Angeles Times wrote, "The Nevers is a joy to watch and a thrill to follow. Supernatural realism, complex storytelling, fantastical powers and topical realties meet in this smart, suspenseful and colorful production. A litany of nuanced characters keeps this otherworldly tale grounded. Suspenseful sleuthing and action-packed battles move the story along at a rapid clip. And all the lush scenery and ambitious wardrobe along the way."[19] Adrian Horton from The Guardian gave it a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "There's a genuinely intriguing anchor in their friendship, and in True's grappling with her intrusive past. Whether or not The Nevers cares to favor its characters over immensity in its later episodes remain to be seen, but I imagine viewers' patience with the Whedon-verse, and The Nevers' bloat, will be thin."[20] Richard Roeper from Chicago Sun-Times gave it a 3 star rating out of 4 and wrote, "The Nevers is a dazzling visual feast with gorgeous sets and first-rate CGI, sly humor, ambitious and sometimes deeply moving set pieces and wonderful performances from the ensemble cast."[21]