When Crisis on Infinite Earths will air - Arrowverse crossover's air dates, cameos and cast
The latest Arrowverse crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths, will feature some big cameos as well as a huge storyline that will change The CW shows moving forward
The Arrowverse crossover event has become an annual fixture in the TV calendar and this year is no different, but the stakes are higher...
The crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths, promises major deaths as well as more cameos than you can shake a stick at. The crossover also falls within Arrow's final season so expect the five-part TV event to go all out.
The core Arrowverse shows are all taking part with Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and the new Batwoman series with Ruby Rose making up the core episodes, with a cameo by Black Lightning.
Three parts have already aired, and the event will continue on January 14, 2020 with Arrow and conclude with Legends, which will follow straight after.
Here's what we know about the Crisis of on Infinite Earths crossover so far.
When will Crisis on Infinite Earths air?
Crisis on Infinite Earths has already aired - well three parts - in the USA. The Arrowverse crossover has historically fallen around the Autumn time, but this time around the air dates are split between December and January to take the Arrow finale into account.
At The CW upfront presentation back in May, network president Mark Pedowitz confirmed it would begin in December but conclude after the break. In total it will clock up to five-hours of TV and cover every show.
The Crisis on Infinite Earths episode isn’t the Arrow finale. Arrow season 8 is only 10 episodes long, but the crossover with fall on the eighth episode of the season leaving two episodes to follow.
Crisis on Infinite Earths episode order and air dates
Supergirl – Sunday, December 8 at 8pm
Batwoman – Monday, December 9 at 8pm
The Flash – Tuesday, December 10 at 8pm
Midseason break
Arrow – Tuesday, January 14 at 8pm
Legends of Tomorrow – Tuesday, January 14 at 9pm
Sky is yet to confirm when the episodes will air in the UK, though we do know that fans based there will miss out on Chapter Two of 'Crisis', since Batwoman doesn't currently air on Sky One.
What is Crisis on Infinite Earths about?
The Arrowverse is adapting the classic comic Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Perez from the '80s. The original story was about The Monitor who oversaw the entire multi-verse. He was tasked with gathering the best heroes from each ‘verse to send into space to defeat his brother Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor’s aim? To destroy the entire multiverse.
We were introduced to The Monitor already in last year’s Elseworlds crossover, which involved him making a deal with Oliver Queen where the Green Arrow offered up his life in order to save Supergirl and The Flash. The Monitor then cropped back up to collect Oliver while he was hiding out in a cabin with Felicity and their daughter.
In the comics, there are seven Paragons - the Monitor calls these people the "beings of purest will". Some of these are rather close to home...We won't reveal who they are here just in case you're watching along with the UK Sky air dates.
Crisis on Infinite Earths cast and cameos
Kevin Conroy – Future Batman
Brandon Routh - Superman (Kingdom Come version) as well as Ray Palmer, a role he plays in Legends
Tyler Hoechlin - Superman
Elizabeth Tullock – Lois Lane
Jon Cryer – Lex Luthor
Burt Ward – cameo
Cress Williams – Black Lightning
Tom Welling (Smallville) stars as Smallville version Clark/Kent Superman with Erica Durance returning as Lois too
Emily Bett Rickards - the fan fav is returning for the season finale, so hopefully we'll see Olicity reunited
Tom Cavanagh - while we know him for his role as Harrison Wells in his many forms, Cavanagh plays Pariah in the Crossover
Ruby Rose - Batwoman may have just started as a series, but Ruby Rose stars too
Audrey Marie Anderson - We know her as Lyla but she's now Harbinger, another character from the comics
Will Oliver Queen die in Crisis on Infinite Earths?
This isn’t even a spoiler as in Arrow’s season 7 finale we finally found out the deal Oliver made with the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) back in Elseworlds.
Monitor told Oliver that the Crisis would mean his life, and then in the flash-forwards, as Felicity and their kids stood at Oliver’s tombstone, we saw his death date... 2019.
We'd add, this is Arrowverse, nothing goes the way you think it will...
Crisis on Infinite Earths spoilers
- We will find out about Barry’s future disappearance which has been teased by the newspaper headline. We already know The Flash disappears in a crisis, but that’s all - that's a clue
- Exec producer Todd Helbing has now said this is when we finally get our answer. In The Flash’s season 5 finale we also saw the headline date change from 2024 to 2019, aligning it with Oliver’s death and the crossover.
- There isn’t just one Superman, there’s three. Tyler Hoechlin already stars as Superman in Supergirl, but the crossover sees Brandon Routh, from the 2006 film Superman Returns, also suit up. He already plays Ray/The Atom in Legends of Tomorrow, but he will play Superman in a different timeline for the crossover. Tom Welling, who played Clark Kent/Superman in Smallville, reprises that role.
- LaMonica Garrett plays both The Monitor and his brother The Anti-Monitor, the main villain of the piece.
- Speaking of alternate roles, Tom Cavanagh stars as Reverse Flash and a new version of Harrison Wells on this season of The Flash, but he also plays a new character for the crossover, called Pariah. In the comics, Pariah is a scientist from an alternate universe that sets Anti-Monitor loose.
- Elizabeth Tulloch returns as Lois Lane, but the bigger news is her baby with Superman will also make an appearance - he's called Jonathan after Clark's dad.
- Kevin Conroy, who voices Batman in the animated series, is finally playing the Caped Crusader on-screen as he’s been cast as an older Batman for the crossover event. He's a very different version though.
- Burt Ward from the 1960s Batman TV series has also been cast - his is a quick cameo
- Black Lightning features in Crisis on Infinite Earths despite not being part of the Arrowverse up to this point
- There will likely be another Arrow spin-off after Crisis on Infinite Earths, with the show airing in 2020.
- There's a scene where someone holds the body of their dead or dying friend referencing the iconic image from the Crisis on Infinite Earths original story
- Lynda Carter and Michael Rosenbaum were also both rumoured to be starring in the crossover but the rumour has now been debunked.
- Emily Bett Rickards is also back for the season finale, she's been filming the final scenes of the show - will we see an Olicity reunion?
How to catch up with the Arrowverse
Arrow
Arrow seasons 1-5 are on Amazon Prime Video, season 6 and 7 are also available to buy.
The Flash
The Flash is available on DVD as well as on Amazon Video.
DC Legends of Tomorrow
DC Legends of Tomorrow season 1-3 are available on box set. Season 4 is available on DVD and on Amazon Video with seasons 1-3.
Supergirl
Supergirl season 1-3 is available on DVD box set, season 4 is available on DVD too or you can watch the series on Amazon Video.
Crisis on Infinite Earths airs on December 8th-10th and January 14th.
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