The CW has released trailers for the Arrowverse’s 2019 season that tease the buildup to the next crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths, at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. In the seven years since Arrow launched the network’s shared DC Comics universe in 2012, the franchise has added The Flash and Supergirl to the mix, along with an original spinoff titled DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. It’s also become a tradition for either most or all of these shows to crossover annually each mid-season, resulting in storylines like Invasion! and Crisis on Earth-X.
Last year’s Elseworlds, however, was the first to directly set the stage for the next crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths. Inspired by the comic book story of the same name, the event will pit the Arrowverse’s mightiest heroes - including Kate Kane aka. Batwoman (Ruby Rose), after her own series premieres this fall - against an extremely powerful being known as the Anti-Monitor. The villain’s counterpart, the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett), made his own Arrowverse debut last year during the Elseworlds crossover.
Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl will lay the groundwork for the next Crisis when their new seasons get underway this fall, even as they continue to focus on their own standalone narrative threads. The CW provided a sneak peek of just that by releasing trailers for the 2019 Arrowverse season during the three shows’ Ballroom 20 panels at SDCC today. Those previews have since been released online, as you can see below.
Much like the original comic book functioned as a reboot of the DC Comics universe, the Arrowverse’s Crisis on Infinite Earths will usher in a new era for the shared television universe. For starters, it will serve as the finale to Arrow, which is ending after it airs a shortened eighth season this fall. The crossover will also lay the groundwork for Legends of Tomorrow’s fifth season, which will premiere midseason and kick-off with the Legends’ role in the event. Crisis will further have a huge impact on The Flash season 6, and will almost certainly involve a few fan-favorite heroes (including, yes, Oliver Queen) biting the dust for good.
It’s not all doom and gloom on the Arrowverse’s horizon though. Among other things, Legends of Tomorrow actor Brandon Routh will finally get to reprise his Superman Returns role as the Man of Steel during the Crisis event (with Tyler Hoechlin also returning as Superman from Supergirl’s Earth). And again, the Arrowverse will be getting a new edgy costumed vigilante series in Batwoman to fill Arrow’s previous spot in its lineup. Still, the times they are a-changin’ for the franchise and its characters.
Source: The CW
