10 Things To Expect From The Arrowverse’s Crisis On Infinite Earths

"Elseworlds" blew us away with its myriad cameos, easter eggs, awesome action and lots of hilarity - and then it tipped us over the edge with the surprise announcement that followed the third and final part of the event. Yes, as you've surely heard, next year's Arrowverse crossover will be an adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths, possibly the most seminal comic book event in DC comics history. This is basically Avengers: Endgame for the Arrowverse, people. It's a big deal. We naturally have a lot of questions as we don't know anything else about what to expect in 2019's crossover right now, and likely won't for a good few months yet. However, due to familiarity with the source material and based on what was teased and set-up in "Elseworlds," it's possible to theorize about a few things that could happen when red skies fall over the multiverse next fall. So, on that note, here are 10 things we might see in the Arrowverse's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" when it kicks off. It'll Kick Off The New Seasons The announcement at the end of "Elseworlds" that "Crisis" was coming blew us all away so much that it might have distracted us from the key point about its release: the title card told us it was airing in fall 2019. If you think about it, that could be telling us more than you think. Yes, technically speaking, early December is still fall, but it's not commonly described as such. And all the crossovers have aired at the very end of November or early December. So, does the announcement hint that "Crisis" could air at a much earlier point in the season? This would explain why things have been set in motion so early on, when we usually don't find out anything about the next crossover until the new year. But how much earlier in the season would it arrive? Well, maybe the big crossover event could actually kick off the fall season. As I'll talk about in the rest of this piece, "Crisis" is expected to have major repercussions for the Arrowverse and it would make more sense to unleash it at the beginning of the new batch of episodes rather than at the mid-season point, so the shows can fully explore the new status quo. Superman Returns... And Dies It was great seeing Tyler Hoechlin back as Superman in "Elseworlds," but it did leave us feeling that the Man of Steel might not last much longer in the Arrowverse. First of all, just when you think the franchise is starting to integrate him better into the lives of our heroes, he announces at the end that he and Lois are going to disappear to Argo for the foreseeable future as they're having a child and it makes sense to have it born on Kryptonian soil. Superman feels safe leaving the Earth behind as he's confident Supergirl can take of it alone, basically naming her his successor. Put that together with his cutesy proposal to Lois in the Fortress of Solitude and it seems like the writers are trying to wrap up Supes' story as neatly as possible. But he's got to come back for "Crisis," right? You can't have that massive an event without him. That's true, but when he does return in the next crossover, it feels like "Elseworlds" was preparing him to meet his maker. This would make sense for the Arrowverse as well. I mean, who's the biggest name they could kill off to raise the stakes without actually taking out one of their leads? Superman. The Timeline Is Altered Part of our surprise that "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is coming next season is because The Flash had previously been teasing that it's due to happen several years down the line. Since the pilot episode, the show's recurrently featured a newspaper from the future that states Barry Allen goes missing in a "crisis" in 2024. This is also a huge deal in season 5, as Nora West-Allen has come from a future after he vanished. So, how come the Crisis is now set to happen in 2019? Well, sure, it's possible that all the heroes jump forward to deal with it - the Legends own a time-traveling spaceship and speedsters can run to whatever time zone they want, after all. However, the more dramatic route to take would be for time to be changed and the event to be brought forward by five years. It's also possible that the answer to why this happens has already been teased. We know that Nora's arrival in the past has changed history - see: Cicada - so what if she also changes the circumstances surrounding the Crisis? The Flash's 100th episode revealed that she's secretly working with Reverse-Flash, after all. Maybe he manipulates events to bring about the Crisis, for his own ends? New DC Heroes "Elseworlds" broke new ground in the Arrowverse by finally bringing the Batman mythology into the fold in the form of Ruby Rose's Batwoman - we got Gotham City, Arkham Asylum and name-checks for a shedload of villains. One way to top that in "Crisis" would be to feature a few new heroes pulled from the pages of DC comics. We all know that the rights to Batman are notoriously difficult to get hold of, so we can write him off. And Wonder Woman is probably off limits, too, as the movies are definitely making use of her. However, there are still plenty of other notable heroes who could show up. Personally, our top choice would be the Green Lantern Corps. Warner Bros. don't seem to be in a hurry to do anything with the Emerald Knights on the big screen, so maybe The CW can twist their arms into letting them dive into this portion of the DC universe. "Elseworlds" even paved the way for such a thing with its awesome subtle reference that John Diggle might be a Lantern on Earth-90. Go on, guys, give us David Ramsey as John Stewart in "Crisis"! Not All The Shows Survive We mentioned Superman being the safest death for "Crisis" as his loss wouldn't affect any of the shows, but what if a reason for doing the crossover next year is to end one or two of the series with a bang? For why it might be time to thin the Arrowverse, we need to remember that The CW revealed this year that they'll only ever air 4 superhero shows at the same time. Though there are currently five DC series on the network, the likes of Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow have been taking hiatuses now and then to make room for Black Lightning. Next fall, though, there's a real chance that the network will add a sixth DC show to their line-up - Batwoman, which "Elseworlds Part 2" was a backdoor pilot for. Even with even more forced hiatuses, it'll be difficult for the schedulers to juggle these six shows if The CW intends to still keep to their 4-maximum rule. It might be time, then, to make room for Kate Kane by cutting out one of the pre-existing series. As we've come too far into the Arrowverse to have a show end without it being resolved, "Crisis" could be a great way of ending a character or several's journey on their own terms. The Crossover To End All Crossovers Every year, we keep wondering how in the multiverse the writers are going to top the previous crossover. We said that about 2016's "Invasion!" and then they brought us 2017's "Crisis on Earth-X." And following that, we got "Elseworlds." This time, though, we're pretty sure there's nowhere to go that's beyond "Crisis On Infinite Earths." The comic book arc is seminal for a reason as it was one of the first massive, multiversal stories that's rarely been matched in the decades since in terms of scope. So, maybe part of the reason for doing "Crisis" next season is so that it can act as the last of the multi-part crossovers that span several shows? Star Stephen Amell has come clean in the past to say that they're incredibly difficult to produce. Cutting Legends out of "Elseworlds" was presumably one way of reducing the amounts of plates that need spinning, so perhaps the crew have decided that they can't keep making what are essentially movies in the middle of the season and want to go out with their biggest one yet in "Crisis"? Supergirl Moves To Earth-1 The most famous outcome of Crisis in the comics is that it reset DC continuity and allowed for the multiverse that had become so cluttered over the years to be streamlined and made more accessible and easy to follow again. For instance, heroes such as Jay Garrick who had previously lived on other Earths had their reality changed so that they existed on the main Earth. The Arrowverse has a very similar situation. Initially, Supergirl had to be set on a separate Earth as it aired on CBS. When it moved over to The CW, though, and Kara became a regular face in the crossovers, it began to feel like an unnecessary obstacle that the Girl of Steel hailed from a different world and her friends had to cross dimensions if they wanted to speak with her. "Crisis" gives the Arrowverse the perfect opportunity to fold Supergirl's Earth-38 into Earth-1, meaning that Kara, the DEO, the Martian Manhunter and Superman (if he's still around) will now exist side by side with Green Arrow, the Flash and the rest. It would be such a natural move to make for the crossover that we're pretty sure this is what's in the planning. Actual Smallville Crossover What's always been awesome about the Arrowverse's concept of the multiverse is that fans can imagine other DC TV shows occupying other Earths out there. This was made explicit in "Elseworlds," as John Wesley Shipp got to play Barry Allen once again, reprising the role he originally held in 1990's The Flash TV series. To top that, "Crisis" will have to bring on board some cast members from an even more beloved DC show. The most obvious answer? Smallville. Again, "Elseworlds" paved the way for this by featuring the series' theme and reusing locations, but next time, we'd like to make it official. Many Smallvillle stars have shown up in the Arrowverse before, so they could presumably be coaxed back. For instance, Laura Vandervoort could reprise her role as Supergirl or Erica Durance could show up as Lois Lane. And it seems that John Glover is definitely interested in returning as Lionel Luthor in the crossover, going by this tweet he sent out: https://twitter.com/RealJohnGlover/status/1072713466937397249 The big one, though, is getting Tom Welling back. The actor's suggested that he'd like to distance himself from Clark Kent in the past. But, then again, he's pals with Stephen Amell these days, so who knows? Other DC TV (And Movie) Crossovers But why stop with a crossover with just one other DC TV show? The event's called "Crisis on Infinite Earths," isn't it? With that in mind, throw in as many crossovers as possible! Ones that are probably doable include getting Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher back for a Lois & Clark reunion. Or, maybe Lynda Carter could play an older Wonder Woman from her 1970s series. And, seeing as it's just ended, maybe some sort of Gotham crossover. Or perhaps a Titans one, considering Greg Berlanti's involved with the DC Universe, too. Why stop with the small screen, though? Perhaps some crossovers with DC movies could be possible as well? For instance, have Helen Slater play a Supergirl based on the character she played in the 1984 film, thereby bringing the Christopher Reeve movies into the Arrowverse's continuity. Or, how about having Brandon Routh reprise his Kal-El from Superman Returns? The potential is genuinely limitless, so let's hope the producers embrace that to the best of their abilities. Green Arrow's Sacrifice Coming out of "Elseworlds," there's one thing above all others that we're certain will happen in "Crisis": Oliver Queen is going to sacrifice his life to save his friends. In the third part of the crossover, it was written in The Book of Destiny that the Flash and Supergirl would die trying to stop Dr. Deegan. However, Green Arrow made a deal off-screen with The Monitor to spare their lives. Mar Novu promised Ollie that there would be a price to pay and, in the episode's final scene, he talked about embracing life while you still can. It sounds a lot like he swapped his own fate to save Barry and Kara. This would make a lot of sense for many reasons. Firstly, it's a smart inversion of what happens in the comics, in which Flash and Supergirl do perish. Not only that, but Oliver is the original hero of the franchise and it would make "Crisis" hugely powerful and feel like the true end of an era if the Emerald Archer was to fire his last arrow. As for what this would mean for Arrow, well, it's possible that it could end for good - this would explain why "Crisis" could be airing earlier in the fall, as it may make room for Batwoman in the schedule. Alternatively, the show could learn to go on without Oliver, with a different character donning the hood to continue his legacy. Right now, everything's still up in the air, but what we know for sure is that we can't wait for "Crisis on Infinite Earths" to arrive.