How to watch the Arrowverse crossover

Before Marvel’s Disney+ shows, and long before the DC Universe dared to combine its films and TV series into a single continuity, The CW’s Arrowverse made television history. Over a decade after its launch, the Arrowverse remains a fantastic example of how to organically expand a shared universe. Starting with the more grounded “Arrow,” the property slowly introduced more fantastical comic book elements with “The Flash” poised to become a multiversal epic with dozens of heroes.

The annual crossovers, in particular, were one of the best things about the Arrowverse, telling bold, high-stakes, and otherwise complex, blockbuster-sized stories that felt like reading about major comic book events. And without a doubt, the biggest of them all was “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” an adaptation of perhaps the biggest DC Comics event of all time.

Since “Crisis on Infinite Earths” combines multiple TV shows and not all of them started their seasons at the same time, it can be difficult to know exactly how to approach this crossover (unless you want to watch every Arrowverse show in the exact order they originally aired on TV, of course). But if you only want to watch this particular event rather than hundreds and hundreds of hours of television, don’t worry, because this is the correct order to watch “Crisis on Infinite Earths” in:

• “Supergirl” — Season 5, Episode 9: “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One”

• “Batwoman” — Season 1, Episode 9: “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two”

• “The Flash” — Season 6, Episode 9: “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three”

• “Arrow” — Season 8, Episode 8: “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four”

• “Legends of Tomorrow” – Season 5, special episode (before the official start of the season): “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five”

While the Arrowverse shows are largely disconnected the vast majority of the time and can be enjoyed in whatever order you want to watch them, you’ll need to view crossovers like “Crisis on Infinite Earths” in a specific order or its plot won’t make any sense. Indeed, its episodes form a coherent narrative divided into five parts and spread across the five shows that made up the Arrowverse at the time.

Likewise, while you can watch “Crisis on Infinite Earths” without watching anything else from the Arrowverse, it’s worth knowing that the crossover was a long time in the making. As such, it continues the plot threads of the previous crossover, “Elseworlds” (which introduced LaMonica Garrett as Mar Novu aka Monitor), as well as the storylines of Season 8 of “Arrow” and much of Season 6 of “The Flash” (which built up to the impending crisis that threatens the entire multiverse).

Therefore, when it comes to “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, there is really only one way to experience it properly. With that in mind, let’s break down the different chapters of the event.

It all begins in “Supergirl,” where we see the sky turn red in several different universes – including that of “Titans” and even Tim Burton’s “Batman” films – as they are consumed by a wave of antimatter. In response, Harbinger (Audrey Marie Anderson), a former ARGUS agent who now serves the Monitor, brings heroes Barry Allen aka The Flash (Grant Gustin), Kate Kane aka Batwoman (Ruby Rose), Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), Mia Smoak aka Blackstar (Katherine McNamara), Sara Lance aka White Canary (Caity Lotz), and Ray Palmer aka The Atom (Brandon Routh) to Earth-38. to help Kara Danvers aka Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) in the impending crisis.

There’s simply no other place to start watching “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” because it’s the episode that sets up the stakes, how the multiverse begins to die, and how a team is assembled to save everything. This is also the chapter that marks the beginning of the end for Oliver Queen, who prophesied his death before changing the terms of his death by helping evacuate people from Earth-38 before its destruction.

If “Part One” of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” is where the table setting happens, then “Part Two” is where the promise of a big, epic, multiversal crossover is fulfilled with a lineup of shocking special appearances on par with the best cameos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Indeed, this episode not only introduces Brandon Routh’s Superman from “Superman Returns,” but it also includes an unexpected scene where “Smallville” veteran Tom Welling plays a Clark Kent who has abandoned the role of Superman.

Most interesting of all, this episode marks the only time the late Kevin Conroy played Bruce Wayne in live-action. The revered Batman voice actor appears here as an aged Bruce Wayne whose look was clearly inspired by the exoskeleton iteration of the character from the “Kingdom Come” comics.

In terms of plot, this is also the episode where we are presented with the idea of ​​the seven Paragons, that is to say beings capable of stopping Crisis and defeating the Anti-Monitor. So, again, it’s best to watch the episode so as not to spoil this particular storyline.

For comic book fans, “Part Three” of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” is simply a treat. This is the episode that contains the most references to iconic moments from the original comic book crossover event – ​​particularly a Flash sacrificing himself and the death of a Kryptonian.

Of course, this episode doesn’t just recreate the iconography of its source material. Instead, he reinvents it to better fit the Arrowverse, which often leads to characters swapping roles from the ones they played in the original comic. Oh, and in case you were worried that the cameos would stop after the final episode, it’s worth noting that this is where Tom Ellis reprises his role as Lucifer Morningstar, the ruler of Hell and star of the Fox (and, later, Netflix) series “Lucifer.”

Above all, this episode marks a turning point for the crossover event, setting the stage for the grand finale. So it bears repeating once again: stick to the order of release, lest you spoil the surprises in advance.

The Arrowverse began with Oliver Queen, so it’s only fitting that he’s at the center of his transformation in “Part Four” of “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” That the franchise was also able to adapt DC Comics’ biggest crossover event without introducing DC Trinity (not really) and make it both cohesive and exciting is a feat on par with the MCU making Iron Man its heart and soul. Still, this episode shows how much the Arrowverse has evolved over the years, having started with a guy who shoots arrows only for Oliver to eventually become the Specter (a strange and powerful DC superhero who absolutely deserves his own movie).

“Part Four” is undoubtedly the emotional climax of the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover, and it needs the build-up from the previous three episodes to work, so that’s all the more reason to watch the previous chapters before jumping into this one. If Oliver’s fate wasn’t enough, this is also where we get an origin story for the Anti-Monitor, setting the stage for the big finale.

“Worlds will live, worlds will die, and nothing will ever be the same.” This is how the original “Crisis on Infinite Earths” comic book event was announced, promising a then-unprecedented overhaul of the entire DC Comics universe. The “fifth part” of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” does the same thing for the Arrowverse, in the process of soft rebooting the franchise as a whole.

Along the way, this episode also gives us one of the best versions of Lex Luthor (courtesy of Jon Cryer), a heartfelt goodbye, and a strange new world full of heroes and villains – a rebirth of sorts. Unfortunately, the Arrowverse began to recede shortly after this crossover, so we never got to see its various characters interact on a newly formed Earth-Prime. Still, at least “Crisis on Infinite Earths” comes to an exciting, action-packed conclusion, complete with a full-scale battle with the Anti-Monitor and the formation of a whole new super-team.

All told, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” constitutes a blockbuster-sized epic – one that spans not only the Arrowverse but virtually the entire history of DC Comics adaptations on the big and small screen. It’s a beautiful tribute to these characters and this world, and nothing has been the same since.