Crisis on Infinite Earths has already spoiled its own ending

Note: This article contains major spoilers for Crisis on Infinite Earths part one.

We've known for a long time now that some of our favourite heroes won't make it out of Crisis on Infinite Earths alive. Since The Monitor prophesied that Oliver Queen and Barry Allen will die, we've watched entire worlds disintegrate (along with some sneaky fan-favourite deaths too).

Still, few could have predicted just how many would perish in the crossover's opening moments — or how the death of one world in particular may have already spoiled the ending.

The first episode starts with a journey through the multiverse, introducing a number of familiar faces from other DC adaptations before their worlds are obliterated by the Anti-Monitor. In just a matter of moments, heroes like The Ray from Earth-X and Burt Ward's Robin from the '60s Batman show die in the blast.

Among all these surprise cameos, Titans fans are treated to a quick glimpse of Hank Hall and Jason Todd as well before they too are destroyed in the anti-matter wave.

Not exactly the Arrow/Titans crossover we were hoping for.

For the first time ever, this brief moment confirms that the DC Universe show is in fact connected to the Arrowverse via some multiverse trickery. Unfortunately, this also means that characters like Hawk, Robin and presumably all of their friends are dead now too.

Given what we've just seen, it looks like Earth-9 is no more... Except, that's not exactly true.

Last month, DC Universe confirmed that Titans will return in 2020 for a third season, and unless future episodes turn out to be some sort of bizarre prequel, then it's clear that the team will be resurrected somehow by the end of Crisis.

This means that if their deaths can be undone, then it's extremely likely that the other heroes who died will also come back too.

It's time we all breathe a collective sigh of relief for Burt Ward's Batman and his adorable canine friend.

What remains to be seen is whether the worlds themselves will be resurrected or whether it's just the people who live in them who will return. However, given what we know about Titans already, it's safe to assume that Earth-9 will be restored at the very least.

After all, DC Universe and The CW are still separate networks. A brief crossover is one thing, but logistically speaking, there's no way that Titans season three will take place on one of the remaining Arrowverse worlds.

More importantly though, this revelation also undermines a lot of the crossover's emotional impact.

While some of the characters who die in Crisis will probably stay dead, it's still tough to get on board with these tragedies knowing that at least some of their deaths will be reversed by the end.

It's like the ending of Avengers: Infinity War all over again. Audiences found it tough to accept Spider-Man was dead given that Marvel had already confirmed a Spidey sequel would be swinging our way soon after.

With the Titans set to return, other casualties like Supergirl's mother, Alura, may come back in a similar way — and perhaps even Oliver Queen himself may be revived somehow as well. After all, there is something rather suspicious about the way Ollie was killed off so early on in the crossover. There might be hope for the Emerald Archer yet.

Arrow season 8 airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW in the US. In the UK, it airs on Sky One and NOW TV.

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David Opie

After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival. 

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.

Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends. 

As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound. 

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