Ever since we saw a future newspaper headline promising the Flash will go missing in a Crisis back in the fall of 2014, those of us familiar with DC Comics couldn’t help thinking some sort of adaptation for Crisis on Infinite Earths would be in the pipeline. In fact, those suspicions doubled once Supergirl came over from CBS and joined The CW’s Arrowverse family. Don’t forget, she exists on Earth-38.
Well, tonight was the night to feel a sense of vindication because, as you’ve probably heard by now, the “Elseworlds” crossover concluded with a teaser for fall 2019’s event, “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” Needless to say, the network has never revealed the following year’s storyline so far in advance, but such a thing can’t surprise us too much when factoring in the setup.
In a nutshell, the Monitor had been scouring the multiverse looking for the right group of heroes to combat a threat more powerful than he. As it turned out, Earth-1 is home to those fit for the task, so I guess he probably should’ve started his quest in numeric order. But who am I to question higher beings?
If you’re also familiar with Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s epic comic book from the 1980’s, then odds are the Anti-Monitor appeared in your head. Really, that absolutely must be the looming bid bad we’re being warned about. And if you require a brief explanation of just who he is, know that this fella is gargantuan and capable of devouring universes. Yeah, he’s that formidable.
Funny enough, Psycho-Pirate’s words to John Deegan in the closing moments of “Elseworlds” baited us with the tagline of “Worlds will live. Worlds will die.” As such, we expect for TV to take major cues from the comics.
By that, I mean, as much fun as traversing the multiverse on The CW has been, we’ve had this nagging problem of Supergirl existing on an Earth separate from Green Arrow, Flash, the Legends and all of their other cohorts. But if, say, a cataclysmic event merging all universes into one cohesive continuity were to occur, then the problem would be solved.
That was the very thing DC intended on doing on the comic book side of things back in the ’80s, though they did welcome back the multiverse concept about two decades later with 52. Even so, who could’ve imagined we’d ever see Crisis on Infinite Earths in live action?
Like I said, this would allow for the Girl of Steel to easily engage in smaller scale team-ups going forward, especially those with Batwoman. And considering how they’ve already dubbed themselves “World’s Finest,” I’d think such a thing is a certainty.
But as for the crossover event itself, I believe The CW needs to go all out by living up to the namesake and source material. Already, John Wesley Shipp’s Flash from Earth-90 (and, subsequently, his show from 1990) has played a key role.
Given the rich history of DC TV in the time since, Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and the rest of the crew behind the camera should do all they can to lock down at least a few actors from Smallville because, quite frankly, it’ll leave people dancing in their living rooms. Furthermore, it wouldn’t hurt to try and get Dean Cain to suit up as his iteration of Superman from Lois & Clark yet again. We’re talking about infinite earths, people.
Come to think of it, it’d be downright foolish to not invite Black Lightning to the party. Yes, I’m well aware of how that series is building up its own world, but again, Crisis is meant to be a continuity cleanup. Thus, the producers would be wise to reserve a seat at the table for Cress Williams.
Naturally, we’ll talk much more about this between now and next fall, so be sure to keep watching this space. But if there’s to be any takeaway from tonight’s discussion, I think it’s that 2019 will bring us an Arrowverse in the purest sense: one universe teeming with the heroes we’ve come to love.