One of the best moments of part three of “Crisis On Infinite Earths” was the surprise cameo from the eponymous Devil Himself of Lucifer, his flirty dark charm an instant but brief reprieve from the impending total annihilation of all universes. As fun as the characterization was, it did raise questions of exactly when in the timeline the scene (now available online) was supposed to take place.
In the first season of Lucifer, when the show began its airing on Fox, the former King of Hell was portrayed in the same way he was seen in “Crisis,” carefree, partying hard and rarely seen without glamorous company hanging on his every word. However, over the course of the series he and his LAPD partner Chloe gradually grew closer and as a result he started to rein in his less salubrious impulses, growth which was put strongly at odds by his flirting with Mia and Diggle.
Lucifer actor Tom Ellis has now clarified the issue during an interview with ET, where he explained his previous statement that he was not going to be involved in the production, and also delved into the specifics of the scene’s setup. He stated that the crossover is intended to take place at some point during the five years Lucifer spent living in LA before he first encountered Chloe, during which he was in a “don’t-give-a-damn-about-anything stage in his life” that his attitude and behavior in the episode exemplified.
“We’re playing it as if it’s in the five years before the show, Lucifer, started, so when Lucifer spent five years in L.A. before meeting the detective and all those things unfolding,” Ellis revealed. “This is him in his proper playboy, don’t-give-a-damn-about-anything stage in his life. He is very irreverent with our characters when they turn up in the scene and obviously, with Constantine, there is some history there.”
Although Lucifer’s home of Earth-666 was ultimately destroyed along with the rest of the multiverse, it’s pretty much a given that “Crisis On Infinite Earths” is going to end with some kind of reset that will restore the obliterated worlds and their vanished populaces. This will allow the various series whose continuations have already been confirmed, Lucifer included, a planet on which to be set, and for the Lightbringer’s behavior in the relative future of his final season to be more in line with what we now expect of him.
