Circling
back around to this now that Oscar season is over and I’m not filling up the
blog with movie reviews. Every year, the CW hypes their Arrowverse crossover,
and every year, I get super psyched (even though, for every golden moment,
there’s usually some sloppy chaos too.) And this year’s crossover was the
biggest of all. It not only spanned episodes of five different shows and
featured a major guest from another, it also teased the coming of future DC
shows on the CW plate and, just generally, served as a love letter to every
adaptation of every DC property out there. While I can’t deny that there’s
plenty of messiness and nonsense, god help me if I didn’t love it anyway
(spoilers.)
One
or more Earths has a major catastrophe requiring the assistance of a whole
posse of costumed heroes precisely once a year, conveniently for television
ratings. This time around, though, it’s not just one or more Earths. It’s every Earth. The entire multiverse is
under threat by the Anti-Monitor, a shady megalomaniac from an anti-matter
dimension who’s ready to destroy everything. Our heroes (and I mean all our heroes) get a hand in the fight
for the future of the multiverse, going on an Earth-hopping mission to stop the
Anti-Monitor.
We’ll
start with some of the annoyances so I can move onto the fun stuff. As is
pretty usual, there’s some top-notch ridiculous plotting on display here. While
it’s always fun to see everyone interacting, these crossovers are rarely done
in such a way that don’t ultimately feel overstuffed, and this one is bursting
at the seams even before you get to all the Easter eggs. And yet, for such a
multiverse-ending, all-hands-on-deck Crisis-with-a-Capital-OH-MY-GOD!!!, the
story also feels weirdly small at times. The most major fights feel pretty
unimpressive, and plenty of characters disappear for the majority of the
proceedings with nary a mention (I know all the shows’ supporting cast have
small roles, but I’m most biased toward the Supergirl
characters, and I definitely had these thoughts at various points: “How do you
make J’onn a Paragon and then give him like two minutes of screentime?”, “I
know Alex is happily in a relationship, but come on, she can’t even meet Kate Kane?”, and, when Ray was
working on something technically-complicated in a crunch and rejoiced at the
arrival of Cisco, “Gee, it’s not like a Twelfth-Level
Intellect would come in handy or anything!”) Also, my time with the Moffat
era of Doctor Who has soured me on
the notion of a character getting their “definite irrevocable ending,” being
brought back two episodes later, and then getting their “definite irrevocable
final ending for real this time!”
another two episodes later; just put all your effort into one good death scene
instead of diluting the effect with diminishing returns.
But
all that said, I still had a wonderful time. I loved the further development of
the brief bond we saw between Kara and Kate in last year’s crossover, with Kara
helping to ease Kate into all the alternate-reality-and-aliens shenanigans
going on and the two of them helping one another as things got really heavy.
Barry-Jefferson was a surprise connection, but it was totally great and I’d
love to see them together more in the future (let’s be honest, Freedland could
totally use the occasional assist from another hero in a Black Lightning / Flash
crossover.) The chance to see Brandon Routh play Superman again (not in a mediocre movie, and more
importantly, without the gross Bryan Singer baggage!) was great, and as much as
I continue to love Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsy Tulloch as the Arrowverse’s
official Superman and Lois, Routh just killed it as an alternate-Earth Superman
who’s been through some serious shit. Lex Luthor was his usual Magnificent
Bastard self, and I really enjoyed the debut of Ryan Choi, an unsuspecting (albeit
brilliant) human who’s swept up in all the apocalyptic goings-on.
And
of course, the cameos. This is a crossover that went far beyond the bounds of
the Arrowverse, taking full advantage of the multiverse to bring in nods to
countless DC properties. There was Burt Ward, there with the “Holy crimson
skies of death!” There was a Smallville
Earth, a Birds of Prey TV-show Earth,
the return of the 90s Flash Earth, a
Tim Burton Batman Earth, and an Earth
where all the DC Universe (the streaming service) original shows exist. There
was Kevin Conroy playing Batman in live action for the first time. There was
freakin’ Ezra Miller’s Flash!! I’m
fully aware that this crossover is like 70% pure fan service, but it works
because, as much as it panders, it’s also done with clear love and affection
for the wide reach of everything DC.
I
will say, though, one thing the crossover didn’t
deliver? A scene of Jefferson finding out that Barry was raised in a Black
family and no one ever mentions it. I
most definitely needed his reaction to that information, which is clearly
another reason why we need a Black
Lightning / Flash crossover! At
least now that Supergirl and Black Lightning merged with all the
Earth-one-based shows into a singular Earth, it can theoretically be easier to
do more small two-show crossovers in between the larger events. Come on, CW –
make it so!
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