When "Crisis on Infinite Earths" first aired, it seemed like the peak of the Arrowverse. We witnessed the biggest crossover event in DC television history and what should've been the start of the next chapter of DC television. Unfortunately, things didn't work that way, and as The Flash nears its end, I can't help but think back on the ways this crossover ruined the Arrowverse at large.
While I've held this opinion for a while, I think I finally reached a breaking point thanks to The Flash's Season 9 episode "The Good, The Bad, and The Lucky." I'll get into that more later because there are just so many things I need to revisit before that moment that has me so upset we ever got this crossover in the first place.
Crisis Stepped On Arrow’s Final Season And Ending
I'll be the first to admit I wasn't a massive Arrow fan toward the end, but after seeing other Arrowverse shows conclude without a proper ending, I can't help but feel bad for the flagship series. So much of Arrow's final season was intertwined with "Crisis on Infinite Earths" that it stepped on the opportunity for the series to close out in a way more personal to its series.
Instead, Arrow had to close out its series after its lead character was killed off in the crossover event. Saving Stephen Amell's exit for a massive crossover could've been a great move in hindsight had the Arrowverse thrived in the years following, but let's be honest, that hasn't been the case. In hindsight, it might've been best had Oliver at least died in a proper season of Arrow and not become The Spectre.
Some Shows Pretended Like Crisis Never Happened
Superman & Lois has had a lot of success on The CW, and weirdly enough, it wouldn't be possible if it weren't for "Crisis on Infinite Earths." It was the mega-crossover that retconned Lois and Clark's baby for two teenage sons, which laid the groundwork for the series as we see it today.
And yet, despite that, Superman & Lois made a distinctive effort to minimize any mentions to the greater Arrowverse and even explicitly confirmed in Season 2 that it takes place in a different world than the prime shows. In other words, the Tyler Hoechlin-played Superman and Elizabeth Tulloch-played Lois Lane from "Crisis" aren't even the same versions we're following on this show. It seems like a terrible vote of confidence when a show directly created from the crossover doesn't want to acknowledge it, or the greater universe for that matter.
The Rules Following Crisis On Infinite Earths Have Been Confusing
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" changed the Arrowverse permanently, but not in a way that was always easily understood. Heroes lived and heroes died, but also heroes died and then lived again. There are also multiple versions of the same villains co-existing and entirely new versions of previous villains. Oh, and as we learned recently on The Flash, there are even people who were dead before "Crisis," like Becky Sharpe, that are now also alive again. Not everyone is alive, though; some people, like Barry Allen's mom, are still very dead.
Perhaps the biggest problem following "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is that none of the shows effectively laid out every scenario for how the world would work following the mega event. Sure, fans were drip-fed reveals across The Flash, Supergirl and Batwoman, but I'm sure there were plenty of people not watching all of those shows concurrently. Even if you were, it'd be hard to mash all that information together into a coherent bible for how this world operates now. It sounds like a mess, and to be quite honest, it has felt like one too.
It Teased A Future Crossover That Never Happened
Remember at the end of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" where we saw the Arrowverse's version of the Justice League? They even teased Gleek, the blue monkey! The Paragons who remembered Crisis all got together in order to stop the next major crisis should it come, and the building itself was dedicated to Oliver Queen's memory!
Thankfully, The Flash has found a way to bring back Oliver in its final season because aside from a brief visit to that base of operations in the show's "Armageddon" event, it hasn't been used for jack since it was established. Granted, the pandemic definitely helped put the kibosh on productions filming crossovers for a while, and by the time restrictions had opened up, a couple of shows were already on their way out. Oh, and as mentioned, Superman & Lois is not part of Earth Prime. It really sucks because I was looking forward to this crossover.
We Never Got A Proper Reestablishment Of The Multiverse
At the time, it seemed like "Crisis on Infinite Earths" was meant to usher in the new era of the Arrowverse. And yet, as The Flash heads toward its final episode, so many shows that have come after it are ending or have already ended. It's actually pretty sad to watch the ending of the other Earths and realize that Stargirl, Doom Patrol, Titans and Swamp Thing were hyped at the end, and they'll all officially be gone before too long (although to be fair, Swamp Thing had already ended by that point).
Let's also not forget the fact that at the time, it seemed like we'd be getting a Katherine McNamara-led Arrow spinoff. Unfortunately, plans changed and that project never came to be. McNamara still ended up on The CW with Walker: Independence, so some good did come out of it, but to date, there still hasn't been a follow-up series to Arrow despite its popularity.
In fairness, the pandemic definitely played a hand in this and some of the rough runs for other Arrowverse shows, but it's not like "Crisis" really teed up any of these shows for success. In fact, there wasn't even a significant torch-passing moment to the new era of shows, just an acknowledgment that they existed entirely separate from the rest. That was a real missed opportunity, and maybe they should've tried to incorporate the other shows a bit more.
The Arrowverse certainly hasn't been the same since "Crisis on Infinite Earths," and it's safe to say that hasn't been a good thing. It feels like we're in the end times of this DC franchise, which probably wasn't the goal at the time it was made. Sure, there were other factors that played into that, but overall, this crossover didn't do anything to help the situation.
While it's not what it once was, fans of the Arrowverse can still catch the franchise's remaining shows on The CW. In fact, the network just kicked off Gotham Knights, which is definitely worth a watch, along with many other shows on the 2023 TV schedule if you're looking for something new.
