This post contains spoilers for Crisis on Infinite Earths.
It’s fitting that Part Four closed with the idea that with endings can come big beginnings, considering the fact that the end to Crisis also happens to be Legends of Tomorrow’s season premiere. My biggest complaint throughout the crossover has been the lack of humor of crossovers yore. But that complaint comes with the understanding that there’s just not a whole lot of time for such a thing while entire universes are being wiped out. With that in mind, when we kick off with Part Five, the multiverse is restored, so there is time for giggles again.
That’s great, because Kara Danvers is having a no good, very bad day. One second you’re saving the multiverse, the next you wake up and your arch nemesis is accepting the Nobel Peace Prize and on the receiving end of endless adoration from your loved ones.
In the wake of her frustrations, Supergirl seeks something to punch. Conveniently, Weather Witch tries to harass her. Eventually The Flash joins the fray, and he wants to know why Supergirl is on his Earth. Kara has the same question, which leads us to the realization that their multiverse has been condensed onto Earth Prime. Oh, and only the Paragons remember the events of Crisis.
J’onn J’onnz might not have had a ton to do throughout the rest of the crossover, but he certainly gets a workout in Part Five. His powers allow him to bring the rest of the heroes up to speed on the situation at hand. This includes letting Team Arrow know that their leader died twice without any of them there. Strangely, I didn’t have much of an emotional reaction to Oliver’s second death. That is, until I had to watch John Diggle cry with my own two eyes.
Because this is a Legends episode, we don’t stay in the sad territory for long. There are giant Beebos to attend to! Though he’s just a distraction before the Anti-Monitor’s inevitable return prior to the final showdown, you’ll never hear me complain about an episode containing that fuzzball.
With the looming threat of losing the multiverse a second time, the Super Friends snap into action. Atom Squared and Nash Wells head to S.T.A.R. Labs to create a shrink bomb to keep the Anti-Monitor in a state of constant, well, shrinking, while the rest of the team holds the Anti-Monitor’s goons. There are some fun beats in here, including a Lord of the Rings level “For Oliver” before the final rush on their adversary. There’s a bit more of a fight than there was in Part Four, but the Anti-Monitor threat only takes up about a fifth of the episode.
As things wind down, we find the team back in the Hall of Justice (though it’s yet to be officially named as such in the series proper). A small memorial for The Green Arrow stands on the far edge of the mostly abandoned hangar. It’s there that Supergirl, The Flash, and White Canary say their final goodbyes. Black Lightning stands with the line, signifying his official induction into the Arrowverse. Congrats on not being the newbie anymore, Batwoman!
With their goodbyes said and their jokes cracked, it’s time for the Super Friends to head back to their respective cities and see just what else Crisis may have changed. But first, The Flash has one last surprise for the team. The final reveal of the main crossover is The Justice League’s round table. Despite Ezra Miller’s inclusion indicating a new level of unity between their respective properties, it still seems unlikely they’ll be allowed to use the name. All the same, the table's there! The chairs are emblazoned with the logos and we get an exceptionally neat moment with all of the heroes taking their seats. Endings usher in big beginnings, indeed.
I noted “main crossover” up there because while that’s the last of the narrative surprises, Crisis on Infinite Earths has one final surprise up its sleeve after the story wraps. You’ll notice that, despite our heroes all occupying Earth Prime, I keep mentioning the multiverse. That would be because the multiverse still exists, just in a very different form.
With this new beginning, we’re hopefully seeing a new age in DC’s content. One where they build fewer obstacles for themselves, like pointlessly restricting the use of certain terms because another one of their properties may have mentioned it in the last decade. “Justice League” might still be a stretch, but we now know that this new multiverse doesn’t just contain the Arrowverse. It includes all of DC’s properties, all spanning their own Earths in an infinite amount of possibilities. Possibilities that include Brandon Routh’s Superman paying a tear-jerking homage to Christopher Reeve right before the credits roll.
The Arrowverse hasn’t been for everyone. And I personally enjoyed the first three parts of Crisis more than the latter two. But when you stop and think about what this team pulled off with this crossover, it’s really kind of breathtaking. There might not have been big-screen effects, but the narratives and character beats were all so spot on. They brought together so many people from so many different parts of the DC universe. We got to meet Ryan Choi! Tom Welling returned to the farm! In the beginning, we talked about how Crisis on Infinite Earths meant infinite possibilities. The teams behind this crossover really delivered on those possibilities.
That’s it from me! I want to hear your thoughts in the comments!