Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 1 sees a hero fall and some jaw-dropping cameos
The crisis has begun... **CONTAINS US-PACE SPOILERS**
DC TV's 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' promised mind-blowing cameo appearances and major deaths... and Part One of the epic crossover has already delivered on both fronts.
**NOTE – major US-pace spoilers lurk below, do not continue unless you have seen 'Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part One'**
As foreshadowed by recent events, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) – the grandaddy of the Arrowverse – perished in the latest episode of Supergirl, which formed the first chapter of 'Crisis'.
To stop a wave of anti-matter that was threatening to consume first Earth-38 and then the rest of the Multiverse, Oliver and his superhero allies fought to protect quantum towers, placed by The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) on key Earths, from an army of shadow demons.
Oliver refused to retreat until the planet was entirely evacuated, eventually running out of his signature arrows. Left defenceless against the shadow demons, he was critically wounded and later passed away at Earth-One's Star City bunker.
Though Oliver's death had been foretold by The Monitor, fans were still stunned to see him take his last bow so early into the five-part crossover.
"The dilemma that we presented to our own selves was that we spoiled our own story," producer Marc Guggenheim explained (via TVLine). "So if Oliver dying isn’t the surprise, what is the surprise?
“The timing of him dying, because we figured the audience is expecting that Oliver would die in the climax in the fifth hour."
Oliver's early demise also establishes that "no one is safe" in the remaining four episodes of 'Crisis', Guggenheim added. *gulp*
Besides the Green Arrow's heartbreaking exit, 'Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part One' also provided a number of crowd-pleasing cameo appearances, many of which were previously unannounced.
Burt Ward reprised his role of Dick Grayson from the '60s Batman TV series for a brief cameo, while a character from Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie, journalist Alexander Knox, also reappeared, played once more by original actor Robert Wuhl.
Russell Tovey made a surprise cameo as superhero The Ray, last seen in the 2017 'Crisis on Earth-X' crossover, and two characters from DC Universe's Titans, Jason Todd (Curran Walters) and Hawk (Alan Ritchson), also made brief appearances.
In the US, Crisis on Infinite Earths airs on The CW, continuing on Batwoman (tonight – Monday, 9th December) and The Flash (Tuesday, 10th December). The crossover will conclude after a midseason break, with episodes of Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow (both Tuesday, 14th January).
The crossover – minus Batwoman – will air on Sky One in the UK at a later date.
Authors
Morgan Jeffery is the Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all editorial output across the brand's digital platforms. He was previously TV Editor at Digital Spy and has featured as a TV expert on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
