Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019) / YMMV

Alternative Character Interpretation: The Smallville Clark Kent, big time. Was his voluntary relinquishment of his powers to retire and raise a family a fundamentally selfish act, or is he enjoying a well-earned retirement after twenty years of super-heroics in a world that was established to have many other superheroes?
Ass Pull:
- It's pretty much a given that most DC and Marvel stories will utilize some form of made-up science, and this usually turns out fine. But even by the standards the Big Two have set, this miniseries pushes the envelope with the Monitor requesting that Ray Palmer create a 'paragon detector' so they can find the seven beings who must save the multiverse. At least with other examples of that made-up science, such as the Speed Force or the Super Soldier Serum, it's easy to understand how they're supposed to work. Not so with the Paragon Detectors. It's the lack of explanation as to how this detector works and how Ray was able to build it to find the seven beings that really strains this machine's credibility.
- Additionally, the fact that out of the entire multiverse, almost all of the paragons come from just two Earths (and most are already on the Waverider) seems a bit contrived.
Base-Breaking Character:
- The Monitor. He's either an awesome Magnificent Bastard, or an idiot with no idea of what he's doing. The previous year's crossover becomes seemingly pointless because the Flash and Supergirl were supposed to die despite the newspaper article saying that Barry would die in the Crisis, which meant that he would've allowed two Paragons (one of whom he had already identified as such) to die, and thus doom the multiverse. For that matter, he goes on and on about how Barry is fated to die, only for it to turn out that it's a different Barry altogether. He was also the one to send away the Earth-90 Flash, leaving him vulnerable for capture so that the Anti-Monitor could use him as a battery for his anti-matter wave generator. He failed to keep in touch with Harbinger, leaving her vulnerable to be taken over by the Anti-Monitor. And he did nothing to stop Nash Wells from opening the gate that would start the Crisis itself. In fact, he was the one who brought about the existence of the Anti-Monitor due to his "towering ambition." In hindsight, one can't help but think that a lot of trouble and deaths could've been avoided if he had had a better plan than to just toy around with mortals and hope that everything works out.
- The Anti-Monitor as well. He's either a cool and threatening Invincible Villain worthy of being the Greater-Scope Villain of the entire Arrowverse or a flat and dull villain with no motivation to destroy the multiverse other than For the Evulz. It should be noted that this was also a problem in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths as well, with The Anti-Monitor receiving some criticism for being more of a plot device designed to force all heroes to band together to save the multiverse rather than a fully-fledged character.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment
- Ezra Miller's cameo. Awesome to see, has nothing to do with the main plot. To be fair, it was last-minute addition filmed mainly because Miller wanted to do it.
- The giant Beebo scene in Hour Five was this for those who don't watch Legends of Tomorrow or stopped watching before his debut episode. Especially because it's a bizarre and comic scene set in a tragic moment when the characters are mourning Oliver.
Broken Base:
- The Smallville cameo had divisive reactions among fans of the series. Some rejected the ending, accusing it of missing the point of the series by making Clark give up his powers, while others have criticized that Clark isn't an active character during the Crisis. However, some fans have approved the scene as a good homage to the series and a deserved happy ending to Clark and Lois, as it made sense for both characters.
- Probably the most divisive crossover event of the Arrowverse, as you can see below in Contested Sequel. Many fans argue about script decisions (especially Oliver's death in the first episode) and whether the cameos were great or took precious time from the episodes.
Complete Monster: Mobius, the Anti-Monitor, is a being born of the Anti Matter universe. Manipulating Dr. Harrison Nash Wells into freeing him, Mobius sadistically curses him to be his "herald", "Pariah", forcing him to try to warn universe after universe of Mobius's coming, to no avail, all while Mobius obliterates them, feeding on the new antimatter he leaves in its place. After consuming countless universes, Mobius wipes out almost all existence and engineers the death of his goodhearted counterpart Mar Novu, the Monitor. Upon his actions being reversed, Mobius simply returns to obliterate existence again, to rule over what remains as its god king.
Contested Sequel: Some consider this one of the best major Arrowverse crossovers, or even the best one, while others have been more critical of it. Some fans have appreciated the cameos, many epic moments, and sheer sense of scale. Others have accused the crossover of messy storytelling, focusing too much on the cameos, lacking action scenes, not exploiting enough the crossover worlds, disregarding The Flash's storyline of Barry fighting with Thawne during the Crisis, and creating Cosmic Retcons that are hard to reconcile consistently with the previous timelines.
Continuity Lock-Out:
- It's billed as one Mini Series with the umbrella title of Crisis On Infinite Earths, but it comprises of five individual series in a Shared Universe (but some viewers may only watch one or two of them) so you have to switch between all five series to get all 5 episodes. Great for comic-book fans, not so great for people who only watch one or two of the series out of personal preference or, as explained below, for restrictions beyond their control.
  - This is particularly problematic for viewers outside of the US, where The CW airing the special in separate shows becomes problematic due to the handling of distribution rights. For example, in the UK, the shows are split up between channels and subscription services: E4 airs Batwoman, Sky One airs Supergirl (2015), Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow and The Flash (2014), while the nominally important Black Lightning^note is exclusively a Netflix Original in the UK. Not only that, but when Sky finally began airing the crossover in late March/early April, E4 only began airing Batwoman the day before - so viewers initially thought they would have to wait two months to see the crossover in full. But when the week came to air it, E4 didn't, and completely omitted the episode fans needed to complete the set from that week of scheduling, with outlets being told that E4 would air the episode Out of Order at the end of the series to maintain the series' main story arc, which would air in around August 2020. A truly baffling move that solves nothing schedule-wise, it made people wait longer for the episode, and it just robs what little context that specific crisis episode would have had in relation to the rest of the Batwoman series. The ending of the whole crossover is directly referenced in the very first sentence of the episode. It also doesn't stop people picking up the boxset of the Crisis Crossover in full, completely bypassing E4 and Sky (and without adverts).
  - The situation is also bad in Brazil, where Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow are shown by Warner Channel, Batwoman by HBO and Black Lightning by Netflix. Therefore, Brazilian fans will never be able to watch a marathon in the correct order on TV.
- The series do not explain how the heroes got to know about Pariah so quickly, but that story is addressed in the tie-in comics.
Crack Ship: It didn't go unnoticed by fans that in their brief interaction that Iris was checking Smallville Clark out and caused a lot of them to latch onto the ship, despite both characters being Happily Married to different people. Candice Patton openly admitting that she had a Celeb Crush on Tom Welling also overlaps this with Actor Shipping for some fans.
Crosses the Line Twice: The Doom Patrol's cameo, which shows them frolicking in their mansion's front yard without a care in the world. For anyone who has seen their series, it's so off the mark yet on-brand in its weirdness that you can't help but laugh.
Crossover Ship: Fans quickly took to shipping Constantine and Lucifer, especially since it's pretty clear something happened between the two of them.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Brandon Routh playing the Kingdom Come Superman became this even before the event aired. Between being a Role Reprise of Supes from Superman Returns and his amazingly designed comic-accurate costume has led many people to wish he could stay for longer. His actual performance is often highlighted in reviews and even detractors of the Arrowverse have liked his character.
- Special mention goes to Lucifer, who fans deemed one of the best cameos during the crossover, praising him for his excellent chemistry with John Constantine and the two characters feeling like a perfect fit for each other.
- Really any of the One-Scene Wonder cameos from various actors and actresses throughout DC media from Robert Wuhl's Alexander Knox, Burt Ward's Dick Grayson, Kevin Conroy's Bruce Wayne, Ashley Scott's Helena Kyle, and even Ezra Miller's Barry Allen.
- Leonard, the Waverider AI on Earth-74, with Wentworth Miller reprising his role as a now Servile Snarker is beloved by fans and the closest the fandom has gotten to Leonard Snart returning since Leo returned home in "Fury Rogue".
Fanon Discontinuity:
- Some Smallville fans don't regard Earth-167 Clark and Lois' scene as canon to the series. Critics of that scene state that it defeated the purpose of the series since Clark's development consisted of him accepting his powered nature, but the scene showed that he gave up those powers. On the flip side, supporters of the scene say it makes perfect sense, as over ten years, Clark was sent to hell and back, and though he accepted who he was, at the end of the day, accepting who you are doesn't mean you have to stay like that forever.
- The tie-in comics' canonicity was cast in doubt because elements like Wally West's death are not acknowledged at all in the TV show. Granted, Post-Crisis he was most probably just resurrected, but them not mentioning it at all is still noticeable.
Fanfic Fuel:
- How did Lucifer and John Constantine meet, and how did John help Lucifer with Maze?
- What happened between the end of the '66 Batman series up till now? All we know is that Dick grew up, lived a quiet life, and is happily walking Ace the Bat Hound. Did he become Batman after his Bruce retired? Did he pass on his mantle of Robin onto someone else?
  - Did Batman and Catwoman ever tie the knot?
- During Knox's cameo, he is seen reading a newspaper bearing the headline "Batman Captures Joker", even though Jack Napier died at the end of Batman (1989). Does this mean that Jack faked his death, or was resurrected somehow? Or has he simply been replaced by a Legacy Character?
He Really Can Act:
- For nearly 30 years, Kevin Conroy portrayed Batman only with voice, not body. Fans were excited to see him in live action, and certain spoilers aside, nearly everyone praised his performance.
- After Superman Returns under-performed, Brandon Routh was left struggling to live it down. He bounced back with a decent career as a character actor, eventually leading to his role as Ray Palmer on Legends of Tomorrow. Thusly, fans were stunned to see him back as Clark Kent/Superman, and that surprise gave way to praise as with the wisdom he picked up over thirteen years, Routh managed to channel Christopher Reeve arguably better here than in Returns, to the point of some fans wishing Routh would get his own Superman show.
Harsher in Hindsight:
- Shortly after this event wrapped up, Ruby Rose stepped away from being Batwoman and the creators decided to continue the show with a Suspiciously Similar Substitute character instead of casting The Other Darrin for Kate, making her entire character arc a "Shaggy Dog" Story in the long run.
- DCEU Flash's comment about telling Cyborg that multiverse travel is possible, which indicated a partnership in his long-gestating team-up film where that character was set to play a major part, comes across as unintentionally bittersweet considering that Cyborg's actor effectively quit after production issues on Justice League came to light.
- The event ends with Barry, Kara, Sara, Kate, Clark, J'onn, and Jefferson founding the Justice League and vowing to fight together to defend their new world. Just two years later, Supergirl and Black Lighting came to an end, Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow were canceled without a definitive ending, and Superman and Lois was retconned to be set in another universe, leaving The Flash as the Arrowverse's only surviving series.
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- The meme of Lucifer never lying, in regards to Tom Ellis' claim that he wasn't going to show up. Lo and behold...
- Green Arrow◊ has been turned into the host of Spectre before in DC Universe Online.
- In the last crossover, Kara brushed off the thought of Kate's anger, saying that she wasn't worried unless Kate somehow got hold of Kryptonite. Lo and behold, in Part 3...
- In Part 5, the Flash finally got his logo on his seat at the conference table.
- The whole idea that Marvel would be the one to have their shows and movies linked together through the MCU while DC kept their film and TV continuities independent is a tad amusing in light of this crossover. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter and Daredevil (2015) are the only other Marvel shows to date that have had any crossover with the movies (The former is instrumental to Captain America: The Winter Soldier and gives some more context the film just didn't have time to explain, Wilson Fisk from Daredevil reappears in Hawkeye and Murdock appears in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021 (despite both being from a Netflix production), while the latter has a post-crossover cancellation of a 70's-era Jarvis in Avengers: Endgame). The other shows have referenced the movies' events, but not the reverse^note. Other shows, especially the other Netflix Originals (Jessica Jones (2015), Luke Cage (2016), Iron Fist (2017) and The Punisher (2017)) haven't been acknowledged by their shared continuity (though that's more to do with Disney's aversion for Darker and Edgier shows at the time; Fisk is only brought in because he's a very prominent villain that would be hard to ignore), the later-released Disney+ shows will be wholly acknowledged. This show, however, saw the Arrowverse's multiverse roping in not only the Burton/Schumacher Batman series and the Christopher Reeve/Brandon Routh film series, but even the DC Extended Universe, courtesy of Ezra Miller's Barry Allen briefly meeting Grant Gustin's Barry Allen.
- Because Barry, the current owner of STAR Labs, doesn't apparently know Gleek existed until it made a ruckus, only one other person comes to mind in regards to where it came from: the lab's "original" owner. Let that sink in...
- Concept art showed that, rather than Kevin Conroy, Michael Keaton was considered to reprise his role as the Bruce Wayne of Earth-99. While that didn't pan out, Keaton would be confirmed to be returning to his famous role for the Flash solo film in 2022, with the confirmation for his casting coming out only a few months after Crisis wrapped up. It becomes even funnier considering that the first DC universe shown in the crossover was his Batman's home universe!
- Superman III was originally titled "Superman vs Superman"^note, which is what happened when Earth-96 Superman fought Earth-38 Superman.
Ho Yay: Despite only having a short scene together, Constantine and Lucifer generate enough chemistry to have fans hoping they will meet again in a larger way.
I Knew It!:
- Fans thought that Nash Wells was Pariah. It was unambiguously confirmed in the Supergirl part.
- Many guessed that the Smallville Superman will not participate in the Crisis event since the show is known for their Not Wearing Tights rule regarding Supes. Lo and behold, Clark is shown to be a Retired Badass in a One-Scene Wonder.
- When it was teased that Cisco would return as Vibe, many guessed that the Monitor would restore Cisco's powers, which he does in Part 3.
- The Prophecy Twist of Earth-90 Barry Allen and not the main Earth-1 version being the one to perform the iconic Heroic Sacrifice from the comics has been guessed by many fans since the day this Crossover was announced.
- After Stephen Amell dropped a hint in a tweet, many fans speculated Oliver would become the new host for The Spectre.
- The final episode of the crossover confirms once and for all that Titans and Doom Patrol are not in the same universe, which was a subject of fan discussion.
- Many also speculated that, like in the original story, Earths-1 and 38 and Black Lightning's Earth would merge into one universe as a result of the events.
Just Here for Godzilla: People who never watched or stopped watching the Arrowverse would come to see the return of the actors and actresses who played past DC characters from other media like Smallville and Batman: The Animated Series as well as the Superman Returns Superman.
Les Yay: On top of all the sparks between them last year, Kara is especially overjoyed to find Kate made it into the new Earth. Kate and Kara develop their own version of the famous Bruce/Clark bromance, to the point of the Paragons of Hope and Courage respectively talking at length about how the other inspires those qualities in them. Special note to the scene where Kate insists on stopping Kara from reading the Book of Destiny. . . they get so in each other's faces, and Kate has such impassioned pleas for Kara, it wouldn't be at all surprising if Kate closed the last few inches between them and kissed Kara.
Like You Would Really Do It:
- Let's just say that basically no one buys the death of Oliver Queen, the man who made the Arrowverse possible so early on. Sure enough, in the very next episode, Mia and Barry decide to bring him back using the Lazarus Pit. They just need help from Sara and Constantine in order to find a working Pit on an alternate Earth and restore his soul once he emerges. But then in episode 3 he doesn't return to his body and instead becomes the host of The Spectre. He then dies again in part 4 rebooting the multiverse believing he defeated the Anti-Monitor in battle.
- Most people never seriously thought the franchise would go through with killing off Barry Allen like the entire half-season of The Flash leading up to the crossover kept insisting would happen. Sure enough, Earth-90 Barry figures he fits the prophecy just as well and sacrifices himself in Earth-1 Barry's place.
- The overall concept of the Crisis itself is this trope; it's a Foregone Conclusion that the universes annihilated by antimatter aren't actually permanently destroyed and will be brought back in some form, especially the ones that are the settings of still ongoing TV series that the CW showrunners don't control, like Lucifer and Titans (2018) (the former being even more blatant due to Tom Ellis saying the Crisis happens before the start of his own series). The lighthearted way the showrunners talk about it gives away the fact that even the universes that could, theoretically, be permanently destroyed haven't actually been; no one wants the Fridge Horror that Smallville's Clark and Lois' Happily Ever After was destroyed by the Anti-Monitor mere hours after we saw it.
- The above is extra true with Hour Three of the Crisis ending on a Cliffhanger with the entire Multiverse having been destroyed; no one really thinks the Arrowverse shows will now be about a handful of heroes living at the Vanishing Point. Essentially, the drama isn't if our heroes stop the Crisis, but how.
Magnificent Bastard: Mar Novu, the Monitor, see here.
Memetic Mutation:
- Lex Luthor won with a Sharpie. ^Explanation
- "Do you trust me?"^Explanation
- "You have failed this universe!"^Explanation
Narm:
- The History Repeats scene in which Earth-38 Clark and Lois send their baby Jonathan into a space pod that is only meant to carry the child alone. Even Kevin Smith was cracking a lot of jokes about it during the aftermath party special that aired after the episode about Kryptonians' tendencies to send their babies into space by themselves and all the Fridge Logic that went with it.
- The way the characters in-universe talk about "crossovers." It's such blatant Leaning on the Fourth Wall that it feels silly.
Narm Charm:
- Lex survives the destruction of the Multiverse by overwriting Superman's name in the Book of Destiny with permanent marker. The fact that such a stupidly petty and easy act led to him managing to outsmart a God-like being and help bring the Multiverse back is such a Mundane Solution that it's universally considered a perfect description of his character.
- The Bruce Wayne of Earth-99 has a tendency to let his mouth and lips dart all over the place when speaking, as if he can't control them. This is a permutation of how Kevin Conroy does his Batman and Bruce voice in a recording booth, as he's a Voice Actor by trade, doing those sorts of vocal movements isn't weird for him, but it does look quite odd to the audience. Though considering he's portraying an elderly, slightly nutty in the head Bruce Wayne here, it works in his favour.
- Oliver tells the Anti-Monitor that he has failed the universe when he fights him. The line sounds cheesy, but still fits with the scene of Oliver sacrificing himself to create a new reality and fits with his catchphrase of telling villains that they had failed the City.
Nightmare Fuel:
- Earth-99 Bruce Wayne. He broke his Thou Shall Not Kill rule, began killing his enemies, fell further off the deep end when Earth-99’s Kate Kane became Batwoman to be his Redeeming Replacement, only to be killed, and gives in to bigotry and paranoia enough to kill Earth-99’s Superman. And that’s before he meets Earth-1’s Kate and Supergirl and tries to kill Supergirl! If anybody asks why Bruce sticks to his code so fiercely in most continuities, this is the answer.
- The Crisis reaches Earth-67, home of the campy Batman and Robin. The only glimpse we get of this world is Dick Grayson as an old man, all but stating that Bruce Wayne and all the superheroes older than Robin are dead. Unless that universe has filled the void with some fresh blood over the years, it means they're completely unprepared for their impending doom.
Older Than They Think:
- Kevin Conroy had previously played an alternate Batman who'd become an evil murderer in an episode of Justice League.
- Lex Luthor refusing to believe that Superman would willingly give up his powers for a normal life has also been a thing. An old comic storyline involved Lex using a computer algorithm to deduce that Superman's identity is that of Clark Kent. His reaction is to fire the programmer in charge and delete the algorithm because he refuses to believe that someone with Superman's powers would live as a simple news reporter.
One-Scene Wonder:
- The cameos of Burt Ward, Robert Wuhl, Alan Ritchson, and Curran Walters in Hour One was a pleasant surprise for many.
- Clark Kent and Lois Lane from Smallville only appear in a single scene in Hour Two, but it is one of the most fondly remembered in the crossover, especially the Happily Ever After for those versions of Lois & Clark.
- Kevin Conroy playing an elderly Bruce Wayne in Hour Two, taking inspiration from several versions but most notably the Batman Beyond version.
- Tom Ellis as the eponymous Lucifer, likewise, turns up a memorable short appearance in Hour Three.
- Hour Four shows perhaps the biggest cameo in of all: Ezra Miller as the DCEU Barry Allen!
- The crossover's closing montage includes an Early-Bird Cameo from Stargirl (2020), and appearances from Green Lantern (2011), Swamp Thing (2019), and Doom Patrol (2019).
Salvaged Story:
- Revealing that the Legends of Tomorrow episode featuring Star City in 2046 (which was notoriously tricky to fit into the overall Arrowverse timeline for years) to have happened on another Earth is an attempt at this, but it instead creates a more major Continuity Snarl, as Oliver seems far younger than back in the episode and doesn't remember meeting Sara already. Not to mention that his Sara never even survived the Queen's Gambit sinking in the first place, as the last time he appeared, Oliver seemed to know about the Legends. Plus Sara seems to immediately recognize that Star City 2046 meant Earth-16, despite the fact that there's no way she could possibly know that. And on top of that, there's never been an indication that the Waverider could hop parallel universes.
- Iris and Lois get to work together to search the Paragon of Truth, since they did not interact together in the previous crossover despite being similar characters.
- After many complained about how Earth-90 Flash was basically irrelevant during the Elseworlds incident, he gets a shining moment when he ends up being the one to sacrifice himself in place of Earth-1 Barry.
- This is the first crossover in which the world, plot lines, and supporting cast of Supergirl play a significant role, as the cast outside of Kara and her sister Alex are never or barely used in the annual crossovers. Of course, the world can't be used in future crossovers because it no longer exists, but it survives in spirit on Earth-Prime.
- Unlike Elseworlds, some of the Legends have roles to play this time around. Also crossing over with Contrived Coincidence, Sara and Ray happen to have started on Arrow, still be on the team (and not dead or departed), and not doing recon just in time to be there for Oliver's death. This allows for more emotional impact that the other Legends might not have brought with them.
- After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the Inju stice video games, some fans complained that DC was overusing the idea of Superman turning evil after losing his loved ones. Here, we see that Earth-96 Superman lost friends and family to an attack by the Joker (not quite the same way as what sowed the seeds of the One Earth Regime, but eerily similar), but remains a kindhearted and heroic man. Similarly, they also show an Earth where Batman jumped off the slippery slope after breaking his One Rule and became an unrepentant murderer, which, for some, was a welcome change considering how often he's often given the role as the leader of a resistance against 'evil Superman' in Elseworlds stories, which, to many, was often touted as part of the character's Character Shilling tendencies.
- When Superman Returns was first released, a common complaint was that Clark/Superman was effectively a deadbeat dad to Jason. Upon seeing the son of his Earth-38 counterpart, Earth-96 Clark comments how much Jonathan looks like his son Jason, showing that he did eventually assume his parental responsibilities.
- Brandon Routh generally regards the chance to go back to playing Superman as this, given that he was seen by many as too young for the character in Superman Returns (he had originally auditioned for what was then a Superman reboot and was up against, funnily enough, Henry Cavill). Many viewers agree that, with age and experience, he fills Christopher Reeve's shoes a lot better.
- What does Barry do after the Crisis? Create the Justice League of America, of course!
- After years of fans grumbling about Sara Diggle being blinked out of existence by Barry mucking around with time travel, and everyone hardly ever seeming to care about it, she's back and coexists with John Diggle Jr. in Earth-Prime.
- Part 5 finally confirms that Titans (2018) and Doom Patrol (2019) take place on separate earths, after a long period of Flip-Flop of God on the subject.
- After Elseworlds featured several characters dumping on Oliver Queen and considering him to be a bloodthirsty monster despite his long track record of heroics by then, Crisis has him getting the praise and respect he's earned, especially after he pulls two Heroic Sacrifices to Hold the Line on Earth-38 and defeat the Anti-Monitor at the dawn of time, respectively. There's even a televised tribute to him by the President at the end of Hour Five that shows multiple heroes having a moment of silence for him, and of course the private memorial scene at the very end.
Shocking Moments:
- Oliver was straight-up told of his death during the seventh season finale of his show, but no one was expecting him to bite it in the first episode of the crossover.
- It was unexpected that the Bruce Wayne shown was an evil version that became a murderer and was not fit or willing to be a paragon.
- In the same vein, no one predicted that the entire multiverse would be completely wiped out in Hour Three.
- After years of Word of God claiming otherwise, the Arrowverse does crossover with the DC Extended Universe through the appearance of Ezra Miller's Barry Allen suddenly running into his CW counterpart in the Speed Force.
- The Justice League is finally formed for the first time at the event's end, with one seat at the roundtable bearing Green Arrow' symbol left open and Gleek breaking out of his cage.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Many The Flash series fans were disgusted that the Crisis disregards the newspaper announcing that Barry would vanish after a fight with Thawne. There were complaints because that plot was foreshadowed since the beginning of the series and was constantly shown, being important in many ways for the plot of each previous season, excluding the fourth one.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Something inevitable in an ambitious crossover that brings together a huge number of characters from DC films and TV series. Still, some cases stand out:
- Some fans approved the happy ending of the Clark Kent of Smallville, having voluntarily lost his powers to have a normal and happy life with Lois and their two daughters. However, many other fans found it disappointing that Tom Welling only appeared in a short scene, and didn't have time to wear the uniform or even interact with Brandon Routh's Superman.
- The announcement that Kevin Conroy would finally play a live-action version of Batman excited many fans. But having Conroy's Batman turn out to be a twisted murderer who's quickly killed off and making Kate the Paragon of Courage...did not. Not helping things is that Kate Kane and her series is not exactly one of the most well-liked shows in the series, and seeing her come out on top against Kevin Conroy definitely does not please fans. And sadly Conroy's tragic passing in November 2022 means that we'll never have a chance to see him in live-action again.
- The whole cast of Birds of Prey (2002). Ashley Scott reprises her role as Helena Kyle/Huntress, only to not interact with anyone and be disintegrated along with the rest of her universe in a scene that lasts exactly 45 seconds. Dina Meyer also returns as Barbara Gordon/Oracle only in a voice-over role. And Rachel Skarsten is the weirdest case, because she already plays Alice on Batwoman and could easily return as Dinah Redmond, thanks to the concept of the Multiverse. Unfortunately, she doesn't even appear in the crossover in either role.
- Brandon Routh's Superman, who is from Superman Returns and also the same character version of the Christopher Reeve's films. He has plenty of screentime in episodes 2 and 3, and is the Paragon of Truth. However, he ends up being destroyed along with the rest of the Multiverse at the end of episode 3 and is almost completely absent from the action and plot of the final two episodes, only briefly appearing in the final montage with the other universes.
- Despite her entire Story Arc this year revolving around this crisis, Earth-2 Laurel Lance sits out the crossover, and the one who is announced to appear is her long-dead Earth-1 counterpart. This did not sit well with many fans, and reminded people of writer Marc Guggenheim's track record for mishandling Katie Cassidy's characters.
- With the exception of Sara, Ray, Constantine and, to a lesser extent, Mick, all the other Legends appear in minor roles (Nate, Ava), or not at all. Obviously this was caused by budget and time issues, but the in-universe justification that Sara promised to the Legends that they would no longer have to attend the annual crossover is bizarre and even makes the Legends look like selfish assholes.
- Reverse Flash. Since Season 1 of The Flash it was promised that Barry would disappear in the Crisis during a confrontation against Thawne. In addition, the whole arc of Season 5 was Thawne trying to find a way to escape death, and in the season finale, he promised Barry that they would see each other in the next Crisis. So when the Crisis finally occurs...he doesn't show up. At all. It's even weird because many of Lex Luthor's actions in the crossover could easily have been performed by Thawne.
- Jay Garrick was the one keeping track of the antimatter waves leading up to the event. But like Earth-2 Laurel, he sits the crossover out. It also robbed fans of a Jay and Earth-90 Barry meeting.
- None of the members of Team Arrow (who had been gathered over the final season of Arrow for the specific purpose of the Crisis) actually played a role in the Crisis proper save for Oliver, Mia, Diggle, and later Rene and Dinah in Hour Five. Especially jarring with Future Team Arrow who the Monitor sent back in time to help with the Crisis, and Roy who lost his arm for his efforts of returning.
- Some characters that were important in the first three episodes completely disappear from the final two episodes, such as Mia, Iris, Cisco, Ralph, Constantine, among others. Mia's case can still be explained by the fact that she probably returned to 2040 with the rebirth of Earth-Prime. But we still could have seen her and the other characters' reaction at the end of the crossover, especially at the scene of the heroes mourning Oliver's final death. Marc Guggenheim explained that they were absent due to budget limitations.
- Speaking of Team Arrow and Mia, Earth-16 Connor Hawke not appearing was another wasted opportunity considering a Retcon of Star City 2046 being an Alternate Universe was done specifically to amend the discrepancies of JJ and Connor being two different characters now, yet the man himself fails to show up with Old Man Oliver by himself.
- With all the amazing cameos many people were disappointed that Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher of Lois & Clark didn't appear as, well, Lois and Clark, especially surprising given both actors have ties to the Arrowverse, having both appeared in recurring roles on Supergirl.
- This was the perfect opportunity for Helen Slater to reprise the role of Supergirl from the 1984 film, but she does not appear in the crossover, either as Supergirl or as Eliza Danvers.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- Many agree that having Clark Kent from Smallville and Helena Kyle from Birds of Prey (2002) joining the main hero group, possibly even as an eighth and ninth paragon each, would've been amazing. Not only are they the leads of the previous CW/WB superhero shows, AKA the precursors that helped set the foundation for the Arrowverse, but we could have had 3 Supermen (with Tom Welling finally getting to wear that suit) and having Helena and Kate interacting could've been interesting, given Helena is essentially Kate's second-cousin.
- After all the buildup about Earth-1 Flash potentially giving his life by vanishing in the Crisis, such as the newspaper article and shots in other Flash episodes homaging his comic death, it appears that he will finally make that move in Hour Three...before Earth-90 Flash sacrifices himself in his place. Many were not happy that the 90s Flash took away one of the most iconic moments of the "main" Flash.
- Many fans feel that the writers made a huge mistake in introducing Ryan Choi out of nowhere into the crossover to be the Paragon of Humanity, when several other characters who were established at some point in the last seven years of the Arrowverse could have taken his place. Not only that, but instead of using this as a lead-in to future stories, Ryan has yet to appear in any other Arrowverse episodes (aside from one set in a bad future which is later undone), making his appearance seem like a cute one-off.
- The Flash (2014)'s fifth season finale had the Reverse Flash informing the Flash that he would see him in the next Crisis, and the future newspaper constantly teased that he would play an important role. This led everyone to believe he would appear due to a Freeze-Frame Bonus of red lightning seen in Part 4's trailer...only for him to be completely absent. (Real Life Writes the Plot; the idea was thought up by now-disgraced ex-Flash showrunner Andrew Kreisberg, and therefore it was considered "tainted".)
- Huzzah, the Justice League is formed at last! And then, following this story...all the heroes go their separate ways again and don't even consider calling on each other for anything during the following season of each show. (While Real Life Writes the Plot; it would be very difficult to coordinate the separate cast of the shows to accommodate such teamups, and crossover events like this are logistical nightmares, and then COVID-19 came along and derailed every single show...^noteexcept for Legends, it's notable that no one even mentions the possibility of asking other heroes for help following this story).
Too Cool to Live: Earth-96 Superman is replaced by Lex Luthor at the end of Hour Three, possibly because it would have made defeating the Anti-Monitor and restoring the multiverse all too easy (this is the same guy who traveled through time by spinning the Earth around). Luckily, he's resurrected at the multiverse's rebirth.
- Given that the Anti-Monitor had knocked him away effortlessly when he possessed Harbinger, this was more likely done to create a wild card in Lex.
Unexpected Character:
- Fans begging for years for an appearance of Clark Kent and Lois Lane of Smallville was one thing. Having their request granted is quite another.
- Huntress from Birds of Prey (2002) returns for the first time since the series' cancellation sixteen years prior, with Ashley Scott reprising the role. The announcement came as a complete surprise, considering that no one expected or even asked for the appearance of any character of this series, which is not exactly a Cult Classic nor popular compared to Smallville and The Flash (1990). Dina Meyer also got a voice cameo as Barbara Gordon/Oracle from the same series, to the surprise of many.
- The crossover special has the Arrowverse's debut of Batman, a character who is referenced a lot but hasn't appeared due to the Warner Bros.' embargo^note. As if that wasn't enough, he's portrayed by Kevin Conroy, the character's stalwart voice actor since The '90s.
- Brec Bassinger has also been confirmed to appear as Stargirl, ahead of her own series on DC Universe, which will also air episodes on The CW the day after they premiere on the service. This is all the more surprising because Earth-1 had its own Stargirl who was part of the JSA during World War II, whereas this Stargirl lives in modern times. The ending revealed that her version would be set on Earth-2.
- The Walmart-exclusive tie-in comics have Pariah attempting and failing to save both the 1940s animated Superman and Lois, and the New 52 Justice League.
- During the opening scene of the various Earths, we get:
  - Robert Wuhl reprising the role of Alexander Knox from Batman (1989), a surprise considering that he was just a supporting character who never made an appearance for the rest of Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher movies.
  - Titans, represented by Robin & Hawk. The surprise here is the fact that Titans has a much more adult and violent atmosphere than the Arrowverse series, and the fact that actor Alan Ritchson stated that he would not participate in the crossover. Though this was worked around by archive footage.
  - The brief return of the Ray, whose only live-action appearance on Arrowverse had been on Crisis on Earth-X.
  - Earth-66 represented by an older Dick Grayson, with Burt Ward reprising the role, Mad Libs Catchphrase and all.
- It was likely that the Mick Rory to appear in Batwoman was the Earth-1 version, but the one who appeared was the one from Earth-74. He also has an AI of Leonard Snart in his Waverider.
- Lucifer is technically a DC property, but is such an In Name Only affair that he wasn't on anyone's radar in being involved in Crisis. Rumors first started circulating that Tom Ellis had been seen on-set of Crisis filming, which led said actor to make it clear he wasn't involved in the crossover in order to keep it a surprise. This also makes him the only TV character involved in the crossover to make canon appearances on three different networks (the show started on Fox, moved to Netflix, and this crossover aired on The CW).
- Earth-1 Laurel was announced to appear, even though she's been dead for over three years. She ends up appearing in the Speed Force, as part of its manifestation of when she and Diggle watched over the corpse of Sara following the latter’s death.
- Jim Corrigan shows up to pass over the mantle of the Spectre to Oliver.
- Part four featured a cameo of Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash from the DC Extended Universe.
- Really, who was waiting for another (giant-sized, no less) Beebo appearance in the final episode? Guggenheim did tease him, but he gave the clue that Beebo, Martin Stein or Jefferson Jackson would appear and Beebo was seen as the unlikely choice.
- It was surprising to see Diggle's daughter Sara now not erased from existence anymore.
- In the final montage showing the Multiverse, we have not only new appearances of the Titans, but also the heroes from Stargirl, Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, and, of all things, the infamous Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie.
- What reference do they decide to go out on? The Wonder Twins' animal sidekick Gleek.

YMMV / Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019)

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