Crisis on Infinite Earths is arguably the most famous DC Comics crossover story. Written by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by George Pérez, the 12-issue limited series depicted the DC multiverse being destroyed and the new continuity being contained to just one universe. DC would eventually reestablish its multiverse, but Crisis has nonetheless remained an integral pillar in this corner of comic book history, and was adapted into a five-episode event within the Arrowverse a few years back. Now this iconic story is getting the animated movie treatment, though judging by the trailer that’s been released for what we now know will be a trilogy, I worry this adaptation won’t be what fans are expecting.
As you can see in the above preview, this take on Crisis on Infinite Earths, which will take place within the Tomorrowvese continuity, looks like it’s following the main beats of the original story, or at least it will at first. The Monitor has gathered heroes from across numerous realities to team up and stop the multiverse from being destroyed by the Anti-Monitor (while we don’t see him in the trailer, those Shadow Demons tip off his involvement). In addition to the Tomorrowverse’s versions of heroes like Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Arrow, Vixen and Supergirl appearing, Crisis’ characters who hail from other universes include an older Superman, the Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle, Amazing Man and the Crime Syndicate of America.
So in terms of simply being a story about heroes (and maybe a few villains) from different universes coming together to vanquish a great evil, the three-part Justice league: Crisis on Infinite Earths looks like it will deliver. Granted, I am curious why the Tomorrowverse is jumping into Crisis so early considering this line of DC movies only launched in 2020 and only consists of six features so far, but that’s a conversation for another time. What’s I’m concerned about right now is that Crisis won’t have any ties to past DC animated projects.
Although a Crisis on Infinite Earths animated movie was officially announced at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con, not only was this project was first rumored a few years earlier (via CBR), it was said at the time that the movie would bring in characters from other animated DC continuities and TV shows, like the DC Animated Universe, the DC Animated Movie Universe, Teen Titans, Harley Quinn, etc. Frankly, I’ve been hoping that Crisis might contain one final Batman performance from Kevin Conroy, who passed away a year ago.
However, going off this trailer, it seems like all the multiversal characters that are appearing in Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths are original incarnations created specifically for these movies. Now to be fair, there’s less than a minute of footage shown here, and with this story spread across a trilogy instead of just one feature, there are sure to be a lot of surprises in store. Still, it seems like it’d be a wasted opportunity for these movies not to honor DC animation past in a story tailor-made for such an endeavor. After all, the Arrowverse’s Crisis went all out with the way it paid tribute to DC media pass, ranging from letting Brandon Routh play Superman again, to Batman’s Burt Ward cameoing, to even giving Kevin Conroy the opportunity to finally play Bruce Wayne in live-action.
There may be a glimmer of hope though for the animated Crisis on Infinite Earths trilogy, at least for fans of the DC Animated Movie Universe. Although that line of movies officially ended in 2020 with Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, last year a short film called Constantine: The House of Mystery was released, starring Matt Ryan’s John Constantine from the DCAMU. At the end, John witnessed a devastating, red-colored cosmic force that had been born as a consequence of Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash, initiating another Flashpoint. John begged The Spectre to kill him before being dragged away by this cosmic force. This twist seemingly foreshadowed the Crisis, and now that this trilogy is on the way, it’s entirely possible this will be what ties the Tomorrowverse and DCAMU together.
For now, I suggest DC fans temper their expectations about this new adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Hopefully these three movies will be a platform to many corners of animated DC history, but perhaps Part 1 will start things off with a narrower scope. While we wait to learn more about Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, remember than many animated DC movies and TV shows can be streamed with a Max subscription.
