Crisis on Infinite Earths -- SPOILERS!!

[ClarkKent_DC]

The "Supergirl -- Season 5 SPOILERS!!" thread was starting to turn into a "Crisis on Infinite Earths" thread, so I figured somebody ought to start one.

"Crisis on Infinite Earths" is this year's annual Arrowverse crossover on the CW, which will include Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Batwoman.

Here's a comprehensive rundown of what is known about it, from Too Fab: "Everything We Know About the Arrowverse 'Crisis' Crossover: 'Kingdom Come, Burt Ward, Anti-Monitor and More!"

[ClarkKent_DC]

Re-watching the first three parts ahead of the wrapup tonight. Some additional thoughts ... 

• Nobody's mentioned (not even in the articles and recaps I've read) that the Waverider in the future has Captain Cold's voice instead of Gideon's.
• Neat trick, picking up the Legends from the future, after the team has broken up ... so the show didn't have to include all of the current members of the cast or any of the departed cast members.
• Since they have the Book of Deus ex Machina Destiny, one would reasonably wonder, as Supergirl does, why not use it to fix everything? So of course, somebody has to oppose her. As dire as things are, I am not persuaded that they should not have let Kara try.
• It seems to me that Iris could just as well have been the Paragon of Love as Barry.
• Speaking of Iris, I just love that glen plaid six-over-four double-breasted suit she's sporting.
• The moment when the Monitor is monologuing about the threat to all existence, but is interrupted several times by a crying baby reminded of a bit from Blue Devil Annual #1, in which the Phantom Stranger is similarly monologing while Blue Devil and Etrigan the Demon are fighting in the background: "In all my travels -- in worlds undreamed of by mankind ... as I have witnessed glory turned to folly by unreasoning fate, I -- HEY! Cut it out, you two...! The Phantom Stranger is talking!"
• The Kingdom Come Superman's explanation of why he added black to the S-shield -- "Because, Lois, even in the darkest times, hope cuts through. Hope is the light that lifts us out of darkness" -- makes absolutely no sense.
• Glad they didn't shy away from noting that Kingdom Come Superman looks a lot like Ray Palmer.
• The Flash's sacrifice on the treadmill .. wow.
• That Lex Luthor really is a piece of $#!+ isn't he?

[Jeff of Earth-J]

We watched part four last night then switched over to the debate.

We'll watch part five (and This Is Us) tonight.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I'll hold off on more specific spoilers till tonight or tomorrow. But let me just say (after some spoiler space, even for these generalisms):

SPOILER

SPOILER

SPOILER

SPOILER

The cameo in episode 4 blew me away.

I'm glad they put episodes 4 & 5 on the same night, since 4's conclusion made it seem like the crossover was over. 

Loved the homages to the covers of Crisis 7 and 12.

Looking forward to seeing more Ryan Choi -- I suspect on Legends. 

Seeing what was under the drape at the end of episode 5 was very welcome indeed. And that last music cue!

Out of all the shows, the new status quo on Supergirl is the most intriguing so far...  but then again, that's what we've seen the most of.

[Captain Comics]

Here's my wrap-up on the wrap-up. Even writing over my limit both times, I didn't manage to include all the Easter eggs and references, like CK's Captain Cold mention above. Man, it was fanboy heaven!

[ClarkKent_DC]

I had to watch the wrap-up a day late, so I tried to stay away from my usual online haunts so things wouldn't be spoiled. (A few headlines I saw did spoil a few things but not everything.)

I just let it wash over me without looking too closely or thinking too hard, so I'm sure I'll watch it again, but some first impressions ...

• Don't know why I had the wrong-headed idea that they weren't going to fold the TV show worlds together; after all, that was the entire purpose of the original Crisis.
• As noted above, Primetimer raised the question, "Will Crisis on Infinite Earths Have Enough Fan-Service or Too Much?", and the obvious answer is that is not possible for it to have too much fan service. Heck, with a bigger budget, it could have had more fan service! 
• Along that line, I was left wondering about the characters we didn't see, like Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman or Shazam or Isis from those '70s shows -- or even Vixen and Firestorm and We Can't Call Her Isis from Legends of Tomorrow, or Mr. Terrific from Arrow, but I know that this project did not have an unlimited budget. So I'll just assume the worlds we didn't see were further casualties of the great wave of antimatter, including animated versions of DC characters. Hey, why not?
• One thing that was not spoiled for me -- The Flash of Two Worlds! 
• That was so mind-bendingly cool, I didn't have my usual objection to Ezra Miller's Flash: He isn't The Flash at all; he's Impulse. Just like Supergirl's "Maggie Sawyer" was really Renee Montoya, and Supergirl's "Jimmy Olsen" was really Ron Troupe.
• Also noted above, this telling of Crisis isn't exactly the same tale, because it doesn't have exactly the same versions of the characters, but is using the tools that it has, which is just fine. Like the heroes stranded at Vanishing Point using the Speed Force to get out. The Speed Force wasn't even a thing when the original Crisis was written.
• Speaking of the heroes being stranded at Vanishing Point, they were there long enough for Ryan Choi to grow a beard ... but no one else? Okay, Luthor already had a beard, but he wouldn't have had it if I had been there because I definitely would have killed him dead.
• It was a good use of the Arrowverse lore to make Nash Wells into Pariah. Although I remember a line from the Amazing Heroes special issue on Crisis (which I keep safely with the entire series, as well as the IDW indexes about the same). One reviewer called Pariah a particularly useless character "whose only power is to panic at the sign of trouble."
• The cameo of "Marv" the autograph seeker was spoiled for me, but it was still cool to see.
• I didn't re-read the comics version of Crisis, but I well remember the bit after the worlds were fixed and Clark Kent goes to work and he (and we readers) learn everything is different because the worlds were merged. It was fine, and fitting, to do that through Supergirl's eyes.
• Following that, there was the bit from the comics version of Crisis where the heroes had to fight off Chemo. Using Beebo as its TV substitute worked well, although they gave it a little more screen time than was warranted.
• I don't watch Arrow regularly, so I didn't know Green Arrow's "secret" lair has security just as lax as Star Labs. Really, anybody strides into those places like it's your friendly neighborhood public library.
• Oh, the sight of the Kingdom Come Superman flying over the Earth, to the joyous strains of the Superman movie theme, with Brandon Routh channeling Christopher Reeve ... that was a thrill.
• Actually, did anyone besides me think they'd rather see that as a Superman show than the Superman show we're going to get? 
• Another thrill: seeing the planet Oa at the end, although I understand that was footage repurposed from the Green Lantern movie.
• Odd that Lex Luthor's Nobel Peace Prize was awarded at a press conference in Metropolis and not in a swanky ceremony in Oslo, with everyone in the most formal of formal wear ... but maybe that's how they roll in this new universe.
• The DEO is now a wholly owned subsidiary of LexCorp? How does that work? How can a private corporation buy a government agency?
• And is Lena still in charge of LexCorp?
• And a double whammy in the final moments -- the formation of the All-Star Squadron! Or is it the Justice League? Whatever, it's still cool! And the revelation that that big empty hangar was inside the Hall of Justice! WOO-HOO! 

[ClarkKent_DC]

TV Line answers some questions about the Crisis crossover, like "Why weren't Iris and Cisco in Part Five?": "'Crisis on Infinite Earths' Burning Qs Answered!"

[Richard Willis]

ClarkKent_DC said:

Plus, I always thought that if we were getting the Kingdom Come Superman, it should have been Dean Cain. But I gather he's become persona non grata.

Now, on Supergirl, they've killed Jeremiah Danvers, his character.