The CW has arguably produced the best superhero TV series since they first debuted Arrow, which kicked off a number of spin-offs and new series that further expanded what eventually became known as the Arrowverse. Since the series began from one point it has made it easy to crossover the series, and every year fans wait patiently for the crossover events that have gotten bigger with each annual outing.
Following last year’s “Elseworlds” event, which introduced the new character of Batwoman and yet another alternate Earth, this year’s crossover event was teased - “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” One of the biggest comic book events of all time would see a live-action adaptation (of sorts) set in the Arrowverse… but what would that mean? Today we are going to take a look at a few things we are hoping to see make the adaptation and a few things that should stay in the comic.
WANT: SHADOW-DEMONS
Every major event needs an army of some kind for the villains to face off against prior to the big event. Justice League had the parademons, The Avengers had the Chitauri, and “Crisis on Infinite Earths” could have its very own unrelenting army for the Arrowverse to wear itself out against - the Shadow-Demons.
Not only are they innumerable and hard to kill, but the Shadow-Demons have a disintegrating touch that can be very fatal, can go intangible, and faithfully serve their master until the mission is complete or they have been destroyed. The TV budget might have to stretch a bit to include the Shadow-Demons, but they would provide excellent fodder for The CW’s heroes.
DON’T WANT: ALEXANDER LUTHOR, JR.
The 1985 12-issue maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths introduced a number of new characters that would play a large role in the ensuing reality-altering event. While characters like Pariah, who is the sole survivor of his universe that is fated to be the witness to the destruction of every other world, would be a welcome addition to the CW event, there is one huge death we’d like to avoid.
The character of Alexander Luthor, Jr. hails from Earth-3, which is an inverted version of the mainstream DC universe where his father Lex Luthor is the world’s greatest hero. Lex Jr. is saved by his father before the destruction of his universe, which empowers him with abilities. He’s an interesting character and key to the comic but might be a bit too much for the Arrowverse to fit in.
WANT: ANTI-MONITOR
We previously spoke of the Shadow Demons and the master they serve. That master is the Anti-Monitor, a nigh-omnipotent being who exists in the anti-matter universe, and is basically the negative version of the Monitor. We met one of the Monitors already during the “Elseworlds” event, though the positive-matter Monitor seen in the comics is quite different.
Mar Novu is the Monitor first seen on The CW, as he is testing worlds to see who might be able to help him stop a power greater than his, which would infer that they are referencing the Anti-Monitor. However, given Novu’s decidedly questionable motives, it’s also possible we might see him turn into a version of the Anti-Monitor and stand revealed as the true threat of the Crisis.
DON’T WANT: THE SPECTRE
Much like with Alexander Luthor, Jr., the appearance of The Spectre during the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event might prove to be a bit too big for the crossover to handle. In the comic, the Spectre is instrumental in the final battle with the Anti-Monitor, yet that may prove to be difficult to adapt given the huge scale of these cosmic entities.
Interestingly enough, we’ve already seen the seeds of the Spectre planted, with the appearance of Detective Jim Corrigan in the canceled NBC series Constantine. While not technically a part of the Arrowverse, that version of Constantine has continued to appear on Legends of Tomorrow. Unfortunately, moving from Corrigan to the Spectre that quickly doesn’t leave much time for the character to shine.
WANT: INJUSTICE LEAGUE/LEGION OF DOOM
Much like the various heroes assembled to take on the threat of the Anti-Monitor and his Shadow Demons, so too did the villains unite to see how they could collectively benefit from the Crisis. This led to the assembled DC villains causing numerous problems for the heroes before finally joining with them to save the Earth.
We’ve seen a few different assemblages of villains in the Arrowverse, most notably being the Legion of Doom that appeared on Legends of Tomorrow. If the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event is hoping to be as big as the comics in this particular way, we need to see the return of some of the Arrowverse’s best villains working both against and alongside the assembled heroes.
DON’T WANT: GUY GARDNER/GREEN LANTERNS
Don’t get us wrong, we’be been dying to see a live-action version of Guy Gardner for years, along with a successful live-action adaptation of Green Lantern. Guy Gardner is the second Green Lantern chosen from Earth (after Hal Jordan) and he first dons his ring during the Crisis on Infinite Earths comic.
The Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Universe play a large role in the Crisis maxi-series, but can fairly easily be moved to the cutting room floor. This event will already be exploring enough alternate realities to keep everyone busy, no need to add space and its galactic police force quite yet.
WANT: DEATH OF BARRY ALLEN
One of the most iconic moments from the Crisis on Infinite Earths comic has to be the death of Barry Allen. Barry was seen occasionally throughout the comic as he delivered warnings at different moments in time before it was revealed those warnings came during his sacrifice to stop one of the Anti-Monitor’s attempts at destroying the last surviving Earths.
The Flash TV series has been working under the looming cloud of the “Crisis” since the first season revealed a paper from the future that declares “FLASH MISSING: VANISHES IN CRISIS.” Barry Allen’s sacrificial death in the TV event not only rewards years of buildup but finally bring one of the Flash’s most heroic moments to the small screen.
DON’T WANT: DEATH OF SUPERGIRL
Crisis on Infinite Earths was known at the time for its huge death count, which resulted in a number of heroes losing their lives both from the culling of Infinite Earths, and the various battles the heroes undertake to stop the Anti-Monitor. We already mentioned the loss of Barry Allen which would fit perfectly with the Arrowverse adaptation, but there’s another equally iconic death that we don’t want to see.
During one of the heroes attempts to stop the Anti-Monitor, Supergirl loses her life, resulting in one of the most iconic comic book covers ever seen as Superman mourns his cousin. Seeing the death of the Arrowverse version of Supergirl wouldn’t have as much weight as it did in the comics, and we’re just not ready to see the end of Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El either.
WANT: UNIFICATION OF THE MULTIVERSE
The whole premise behind the Crisis on Infinite Earths was to clean up the messy Multiverse that had grown over the last few decades of DC Comics history. At the climax of the Crisis, the Multiverse is merged into one New Earth, with the various characters affected receiving new origins and backstories to reflect their new unified reality.
The CW’s Arrowverse is in a similar predicament, with Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow all taking place in one reality, with Supergirl in another, and Black Lightning in yet another seemingly unrelated reality. Hopefully, the “Crisis” event uses this opportunity to unify the TV multiverse and bring all of these shows to the same reality.
DON’T WANT: INFINITE EARTHS
This one may seem like an odd thing to not want included, considering the event is called “Crisis on INFINITE EARTHS.” The 1985 comic had superstar artist George Pérez to feature not only almost every single character ever seen in the DC Universe but also a number of alternate versions of these same characters as they existed across the Multiverse, leaving many options for the TV event to adapt.
However, the Arrowverse has already explored how these alternate realities can feature wildly different versions of our favorite heroes, from the opposites of Earth-2 to the Nazi-themed versions seen in the “Crisis on Earth-X” event. While the chance to see different DC heroes and villains appear on these infinite Earths is amazing, we don’t need to see new sets of alternate CW heroes again.
