History Series / Elseworlds2018

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* BigBadDuumvirate: John Deegan is given the Book of Destiny by the Monitor, as part of an elaborate test for the heroes.

* BigBadDuumvriate: John Deegan is given the Book of Destiny by the Monitor, as part of an elaborate test for the heroes.

* SuperheroSpeciation: Notably averted, as the six main heroes consist of two {{Badass Normal}}s (Green Arrow and Batwoman), two [[SuperSpeed speedsters]] (The Flashes of Earths 1 and 90), and two [[PhysicalGod Kryp]][[FlyingBrick tonians]] (Supergirl and Superman).

* BitingTheHandHumor: One of the Arkham Asylum inmates is named after Marc Guggenheim, the former ''Arrow'' showrunner who is despised by most of the fandom with a fiery passion for some [[ScapegoatCreator extremely vilified writing decisions]] on the show.

"Elseworlds" introduced ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} (Creator/RubyRose) and Gotham City — a first for the Arrowverse— as well as ComicBook/LoisLane (Elizabeth Tulloch), Nora Fries (Cassandra Jean Amell) and [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths The Monitor]] (Creator/LaMonicaGarrett), while Franchise/{{Superman}} (Creator/TylerHoechlin) returned for his first appearance in an Arrowverse crossover. In a very surprising twist, Creator/JohnWesleyShipp's [[Series/TheFlash1990 Barry Allen]] also showed up. The crossover set up Batwoman's [[Series/Batwoman2019 own series]].

"Elseworlds" introduced ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} (Creator/RubyRose) and Gotham City — a first for the Arrowverse— as well as ComicBook/LoisLane (Elizabeth Tulloch), Nora Fries (Cassandra Jean Amell) and [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths The Monitor]] ([=LaMonica=] Garrett), while Franchise/{{Superman}} (Creator/TylerHoechlin) returned for his first appearance in an Arrowverse crossover. In a very surprising twist, Creator/JohnWesleyShipp's [[Series/TheFlash1990 Barry Allen]] also showed up. The crossover set up Batwoman's [[Series/Batwoman2019 own series]].

** The ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' is coming... quite a lot sooner than it should be...

** Kate's password is "Alfred," the name of the the Wayne's trusted butler.

* EvilFeelsGood: Averted. After he and Oliver send a crane toppling over to distract Deegan, Barry feels terrible about it, to the point of feeling physically ill (not surprising, as they still have their usual heroic personalities, just placed into villainous alternate selves).

* ContinuitySnarl: Last year's crossover established that there were 53 alternate Earths, numbers 1 through 52 plus Earth-X, while in this one, Earth-90 shows up, named after the year that the first Flash series took place.
** While the numbering scheme gets skewed with the addition of "Earth-90," the 53 alternate Earths could be ''inhabitable'' Earths, since other choices could have rendered the others barren and lifeless.

* TheDreaded: Barry and Oliver seem to be this as the Trigger Twins; when they enter a BadGuyBar, almost everyone there seems intimdidated by them.

* EvilFeelsGood: Averted. After he and Oliver send a crane toppling over to distract Deegan, Barry feels terrible about it, to the point of feeling physically ill.
* FreakyFridayFlip: Oliver and Barry involuntary swap lives ''and'' identities, while keeping their own bodies. Barry actually references this though notes that it's more like ''Series/QuantumLeap'', since they're still in their respective bodies.

** The ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' is coming...quite a lot sooner than it should be...

** Barry and Oliver heading to Earth-38 is heralded not only by ''[[Series/{{Smallville}} Save Me]]'', but by an establishing shot of Smallville that, if you add the CGI meteors, was the intial shot of the Season 5-10 opening credits.

** This is the first crossover since 2015 ''not'' to feature [[Series/LegendsOfTomorrow the Legends]] (or characters who will become Legends) [[note]]The 2015 crossover was a BackdoorPilot for ''Legends''[[/note]] who will be sitting this one out; though [[spoiler: Gary]] makes a cameo in part 3. Their concurrent episode has them casually blowing off the other heroes' distress calls while their personalities have been time-altered. A later episode has them still regretting not showing up.

** Barry and Oliver heading to Earth-38 is heralded not only by ''[[Series/{{Smallville}} Save Me]]'', but by an establishing shot of Smallville that, if you add the CGI meteors, was the intial shot of the Season 4-10 opening credits.

* EvilFeelsGood: Averted. After he and Oliver send a crane toppling over to distract [[spoiler:Evil Superman]], Barry feels terrible about it, to the point of feeling physically ill.

** [[spoiler:John Deegan as]] Superman appears in a black version of his suit, obviously referencing "[[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Reign of the Supermen]]".
** Hour One's [[spoiler: shot of Batwoman on a roof]] is directly inspired by a similar panel in ''[[ComicBook/FiftyTwo 52]]'' #9.

** [[spoiler:As "Evil Superman", Deegan has traits in common with [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryMToZ Superboy-Prime]]; they are both [[{{Narcissist}} narcissistic]], [[EvilIsPetty petty]] and [[ManChild childish]], and convinced that they are heroes. The dark Superman suit Deegan wears is similar to the suit worn by Prime during ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis''.]]

** [[spoiler:While there ''is'' a Batman on Earth-1, he is missing, and a new superhero has emerged to take up his mantle.]]
** [[spoiler:The ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' is coming...quite a lot sooner than it should be...]]
** [[spoiler:Clark is retiring as Superman so that he and Lois can get married and raise their baby.]]

** [[spoiler:As "Evil Superman", Deegan has traits in common with ComicBook/SuperboyPrime; they are both [[{{Narcissist}} narcissistic]], [[EvilIsPetty petty]] and [[ManChild childish]], and convinced that they are heroes. The dark Superman suit Deegan wears is similar to the suit worn by Prime during ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis''.]]

-> ''"[[Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019 Don't worry, Doctor. Everything is as it should be. The stage is set. Worlds will live. Worlds will die. And the universe will never be the same.]]''"

-> ''"[[Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths Don't worry, Doctor. Everything is as it should be. The stage is set. Worlds will live. Worlds will die. And the universe will never be the same.]]''"

-> ''"Don't worry, Doctor. Everything is as it should be. The stage is set. Worlds will live. Worlds will die. And the universe will never be the same.''"

** [[spoiler:As "Evil Superman", Deegan has traits in common with SelfDemonstrating/SuperboyPrime; they are both [[{{Narcissist}} narcissistic]], [[EvilIsPetty petty]] and [[ManChild childish]], and convinced that they are heroes. The dark Superman suit Deegan wears is similar to the suit worn by Prime during ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis''.]]

** This is the first crossover since 2015 ''not'' to feature [[Series/LegendsOfTomorrow the Legends]] (or characters who will become Legends) [[note]]The 2015 crossover was a BackdoorPilot for ''Legends''[[/note]] who will be sitting this one out; though [[spoiler: Gary]] makes a cameo in part 3. Their concurrent episode has them casually blowing off the other heroes' distress calls while their personalities have been time-altered.

* SequelHook: The final episode ends with a teaser for next year's crossover: an [[Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019 adaptation]] of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''.

* WillReturnCaption: ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019'' was announced as the next annual crossover after this crossover finished.

-> ''"Don't worry, Doctor. Everything is as it should be. The stage is set. [[Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019 Worlds will live. Worlds will die. And the universe will never be the same]].''"