The first episode of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” arrived yesterday, and it proved to be stuffed full of references to the breadth of DC history. Obviously, you had the thrilling opening scenes that revealed iconic properties like the Batman 60s TV show and the 1989 Tim Burton movie were part of the Arrowverse’s multiverse. As if this wasn’t enough, though, there were many smaller easter eggs that you may have missed in between all the action.
Thankfully, writer/producer Jay Faerber, who worked on the event, was on hand to point one out to us during the commercial break last night. If you’ll recall, Wil Wheaton showed up in the episode as a doomsayer shouting about the end of the world, who was ultimately saved by Supergirl from an alien dragon. And Faerber explained that his sign was an exact match to the one displayed by a similar character in Superman II.
During our first West Coast commercial break, allow me to point out this Easter egg homage. The first pic is from Superman II. The second, from tonight’s @TheCWSupergirl. #CrisisOnInfiniteEarths pic.twitter.com/jAyW1zjaIE
— Jay Faerber (@JayFaerber) December 9, 2019
The Arrowverse – Supergirl, in particular – has always shown a lot of love for the Christopher Reeve movies, so it’s not a surprise that they snuck something like this in there. What’s more, there was another nod to the films in the same hour. You probably picked up that baby Jon being rocketed to Earth to escape the dying Argo City mirrored his father’s own infant journey. But did you spot the importance of Lois’ final words to her son? “We’ll never leave you, even in the face of our deaths,” she tells him. That’s the exact same thing Marlon Brando’s Jor-El says to baby Kal-El in 1978’s Superman.
Expect even more Reeve references in tonight’s second episode, which is due to introduce Brandon Routh’s version of the Man of Steel into the Arrowverse. Remember, Superman Returns established that he’s basically the same iteration of the hero that Reeve played. He’s due to team up with Tyler Hoechlin’s Clark Kent, while Tom Welling will also drop by as his Smallville character.
You can catch “Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 2″ at 8pm on The CW.