That remains undesirable, but the fact Black Lightning is going to be included is excellent news.
Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths to be 5-Part Crossover
- Thread starter Enterprise is Great
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Based on what? Just because it features characters from a bunch of different Earths doesn't mean they'll merge together. Indeed, I really doubt they will. The Black Lightning producers have been protective about keeping their show separate and doing their own thing with it. They'd never have agreed to letting CoIE acknowledge BL as part of the Arrowmultiverse if said multiverse were going to collapse everything together at the end. And The Flash's storytelling has been so heavily driven by the multiverse concept for most of its run that it would really hobble their storytelling if they abandoned it now. If nothing else, where are they going to get their Wells-of-the-year in future seasons if there are no more alternate Wellses?
I don't really have anything to go on now, just a feeling to be honest---I'm not stating anything based on "fact", just a hunch.
I also don't think this is the direction I want to see--but then again I didn't want COIE to end the way it did either.
I also don't think this is the direction I want to see--but then again I didn't want COIE to end the way it did either.
If anything, the tendency of the Arrowverse lately has been to use alternate timelines and time travel as an excuse for why the events in the Arrowverse happen differently than they happened in the comics. Sherloque thought Cicada was the guy he was in the comics, but he turned out to be someone different because Nora changed history. Barry and Kara were "supposed" to die in the Crisis, as they did in the comics, but Oliver made a deal with the Monitor to change that. The makers of the shows want to pay tribute to the comics while still doing their own new things with the ideas they're drawing on. I expect that's what they'll do with CoIE -- the Crisis is "supposed" to collapse the worlds into one, but the Arrowverse heroes find a way to prevent that and change destiny once again.
Finally!I didn't really trust that report, but Cress Williams seems to have confirmed it:
https://www.cbr.com/crisis-on-infinite-earths-black-lightning-will-seemingly-appear-in-event/
The Flash comic did just fine after the collapse of the multiverse.
I would be fine if they were left with one Wells for the rest of their run. The gag was wearing thin.
And maybe they need a smaller sandbox to play in, given the past two pretty bad seasons.
Well, with such build-up, not doing something truly large and earth-shattering would be pretty anti-climatic.
I'm going to wait and see if this comment from Cress gets clarified by producers or other cast members, but having it happen - if it happens - would mark a huge change in the Akils' philosophy, which is interesting.
There was also a hint that the second half of The Flash's season will be much different in tone from the first half because it will be dealing with the aftermath of crisis.
I think saving the multiverse from destruction is pretty large. And what really defines large stakes in fiction is the impact on the characters. It certainly looks like CoIE will tie in to the end of Arrow, and most likely the death (or departure by other means) of Oliver Queen, and that's a pretty seismic event as far as the characters and relationships in the Arrowverse are concerned. And they'll probably plot out other story and character arcs to reach climactic moments during CoIE, like how Invasion! had Barry confessing about Flashpoint to everyone and reconciling with Cisco, Crisis on Earth-X culminated in two weddings and a funeral, and Elseworlds introduced Batwoman and Lois and had Superman leave Earth. There are many ways they can make meaningful changes in this event without it being that specific change.
The MCU didn't exactly copy how Infinity War played out; they invented their own version of the story that served the characters and arcs they've built up over the past decade. Naturally the Arrowverse will do the same. They'll use this story to bring about changes that are meaningful for their continuity and characters. An exact duplication of what the comics did a generation ago wouldn't serve the story they're telling now. Especially since they expect their audience to be comics-savvy and already have expectations for how CoIE would turn out. Of course they'd want to surprise us and give us an ending we didn't see coming 34 years in advance.
Ok think it will merge the major earths to get most of our characters on the same page / earth / timeline, but will allow some type of multiverse to still exist in general.
I suspect if it does happen it will because the realization from the BL producers it will be good for its ratings.
It’s easy to forget that that the main reason the DC Universe exists at all was to boost sales. Originally Superman and Batman rarely appeared in the Justice Society comic. It was focused on the second tier characters. Some whose solo adventures had been cancelled. Superman and Batman rarely appeared in early Justice League comics either.
Many of the supporting characters who appear in the big company crossovers no longer have their own long term books. I am thinking of the likes of the Spectre and the Creeper. Both were created to have their own titles which never last long. It’s the concept of a shared Universe with more popular characters that keep those second tier characters alive at all,
I am not saying Black Lightning is second tier at all. But with so many genre shows in general and specifically superhero shows the risk exists that the novelty wears off after a season or two. We have seen it with all these shows. These events bring viewers that might have given up on certain series. Black Lightning could be involved in Crisis and not have to overtly reference it again in his own series. That is the advantage of having a Multiverse. Which I to think will stay. There are ways of altering or reducing it without eliminating it entirely.
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They don't need to. The characters now have breach extrapolators they can carry around in their pockets and use to hop to other universes at a moment's notice. It's already routine for characters from different Earths to coexist and interact -- the Wellses and Gypsy on The Flash, Laurel-2 on Arrow, etc.
Naturally some worlds will be destroyed to up the stakes, but I believe Earth-1, Earth-38, and Earth-BL will remain separate. They're all too invested in their distinct worldbuilding, and merging them all would be a terrible idea, costing all of them too much of their distinct backstories and identities. And there's absolutely zero reason to throw all that away merely to make it more convenient for the characters to cross over, given how casually they already cross over between universes.
There was also a much more recent story where Booster Gold went back in time to save Bruce's parents as a wedding gift. Complications ensued . . ..
If you look at post 211 where I posted a video of Lamonica Garrett being interviewed by Den of Geek he does say towards the end - around about 8.30 onwards - that they're trying to stick closely to the comic, now whether that means the outcome of COIE, that's a different matter.
We have plenty of prior Arrowverse precedent to answer that. They're very faithful to the comics in many ways -- the dead-on fidelity of the Monitor's costume being one -- but they still find their own way to put the pieces together.
It occurred to be they could have the best of both by following the Thomas Riker example to a degree. A new Earth is created in the Crisis in which the characters have the memories of our regulars. But it’s just a duplicate. Earths 1, Earth 38, Black Lightning’s still exist. It would allow the writers an alternate scenario for the characters to create stories a few times a season.
