The Arrow-verse is pulling out all the stops for the upcoming "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover between all five of its shows, recruiting multiple Supermen, a Batman voice actor, and now another Smallville alum to join the recently-announced Tom Welling. Erica Durance, who of course played Lois Lane on The CW's first smash hit superhero series, is on board for "Crisis on Infinite Earths."
Erica Durance will appear in multiple episodes of the five-show "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, according to Deadline, and that's not the only exciting news. She will reportedly reprise her role as Lois Lane. Smallville's Lois and Clark will be together on the small screen again! It may not be that reboot, but it's still very big news. The crossover will explain where Smallville's versions of Clark and Lois have wound up in the ten years that have passed since the end of their show.
So, why was it not a sure thing that Erica Durance would be playing Lois again for a crossover that is already incorporating multiple versions of the same character? Supergirl fans have the answer to that.
Erica Durance stepped into some Kryptonian shoes in the third season of Supergirl to play none other than Kara's mom. The role was played by Laura Benanti in the earlier years of the series, but work commitments elsewhere than the Arrow-verse meant Benanti was no longer able to play Alura. So, in yet another casting that pulled from past Super projects, Supergirl brought in Smallville's Lois Lane to play Kara Danvers' mom.
So, it was entirely possible that Tom Welling would be the only Smallville alum currently slated to appear in "Crisis on Infinite Earths" who would reprise his role, as Kara has every reason to spot Erica Durance and think "Mom!" not "Parallel Clark's lady love!" Only time will tell if "Crisis" takes the time to acknowledge the similarities. I'm not sure how the show is going to pack all of these guest stars in while still keeping the Arrow-verse heroes' eyes on the prize, and deliver a "devastating" death for the Arrow-verse's original hero, but we'll see!
The question now is if there will be multiple Lois Lanes appearing in "Crisis on Infinite Earths." Supergirl already has its own Lois who has appeared in a crossover, but there are already three Supermen on board, with Brandon Routh donning the "S" again after Superman Returns, Tyler Hoechlin reprising his role as the Superman of Supergirl's Earth-38, and now Tom Welling's Smallville Clark Kent.
We'll have to wait and find out. The first few episodes of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover are still months away, and Arrow's Stephen Amell recently shared his NSFW reaction to what's in store. The final two episodes of "Crisis" will air in early 2020. Fortunately, four of the five Arrow-verse series will hit the airwaves on The CW next month, so there's plenty of superhero action on the way!
