The Weeknd has been preparing for his Super Bowl performance for years, according to his co-manager Amir "Cash" in an interview with Billboard in January 2021. He told the outlet:

"We always had the Super Bowl on our bucket list, and we've always had timelines for all of our goals. It came a few years earlier than we expected."

As soon as The Weeknd officially signed on to head the show, he and his team went to work. Since September 2020, his team has been brainstorming, creating, and perfecting a show that they hoped would, quote, "be about entertainment from a truthful perspective" and "get to the core of what makes an artist special," according to halftime show co-producer Jesse Collins.

In fact, the Weeknd was so set on providing a stellar show for both in-person fans and at home viewers that he donated $7 million of his own money to the production so it would meet his expectations.

The Weeknd's show was highly anticipated, especially after he was snubbed from being nominated for a single Grammy for his record-breaking 2020 album After Hours. Furthermore, there were rumors that the "I Feel It Coming" singer would bring some surprises with him to the stage.

The Weeknd's halftime extravaganza featured a long list of hit songs and a very unique set and visuals, but not a single surprise guest. Are fans still pleased? Here's how Twitter reacted to the show.

The Weeknd's halftime show included plenty of the artist's hits from over the years, from "The Hills" and "I Can't Feel My Face" to more recent bangers like "Blinding Lights" from 2020's After Hours. While The Weeknd said he was "humbled, honored and ecstatic" to be performing on the iconic Super Bowl stage in November 2020, some viewers were less than ecstatic following his performance. One critic tweeted:

"The Weeknd's halftime show was not as good as I thought it was gonna be."

Another agreed, saying,

"I honestly thought the Weeknd's performance was going to be amazing, I mean it was good but not as good as I would've imagined it."

However, many fans came to the "Save Your Tears" singer's defense, with one fan writing:

"How did people not like The Weeknd's performance? That's about as good it gets as far as live performances go."

The Weeknd's show was, in fact, completely live, as confirmed by the show's co-producer in an interview with Entertainment Tonight in January 2021, who said:

"It's all happening in that stadium, in that moment.We're not bouncing off to another stadium and then cutting in like some people have had to do [before]. We are fortunate enough in this situation that we are able to do a live live show."

In fact, one fan was so enamored with the show that they predicted The Weeknd's performance would "go down as one of the best in Super Bowl history." Happy with the performance or not, many people found humor in the many pop culture comparisons they were able to make during the show.

No matter what you think about the performance, there's no denying that The Weeknd's mask game was strong at the Super Bowl.

Twitter was flooded with pop culture references following The Weeknd's halftime performance. His energetic show was compared to Star Wars, The Handmaid's Tale, and more.

In a mix of tweets that showed The Weeknd's backup dancers and singers being compared to Star Wars characters, one fan wrote,

"I auditioned for the PepsiHalftime but didn't book. Congrats to C3PO & their ancestors."

In response to a video of The Weeknd's masked backup dancers, one viewer quipped,

"What's the name of this cult? Are they the new characters on the handmaids tale? Or is this the musical sequel to US."

When it came to critiquing The Weeknd's show, viewers were able to agree on at least one thing: The amount of masks used for both the sake of the aesthetic and to keep the show COVID-compliant was impressive, keeping the performers safe without looking out of place.

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