MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Crisis on Infinite Earths Parts 4 & 5
The Arrowverse’s official Justice League team assembles in Crisis on Infinite Earths, including Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, Black Lightning and more. The Arrowverse launched in 2012 with the lone superhero show of Arrow, and has since expanded to include a whole lineup of DC TV series: The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning and Batwoman. Last month, The CW kicked off its most recent annual DC TV crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths, which adapts the comic book storyline of the same name. In the event, the heroes must face the potential destruction of the entire multiverse at the hands of the Anti-Monitor.
Tonight, The CW aired the final two episodes in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, Parts 4 and 5. At the conclusion of Part 4, Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow aka Spectre (Stephen Amell) sacrificed himself to reboot the multiverse, which brings a number of changes the the Arrowverse. One such change is that Supergirl and Black Lightning both exist on Earth-1, renamed Earth-Prime, which merges the Earths of the Arrowverse shows. At the end of Part 5, many of the Arrowverse’s biggest heroes assemble to pay their respects to their fallen friend, Oliver Queen. This scene also features the beginning of a new era for the Arrowverse, one that includes the Justice League.
Though the Justice League team name is never said, The Flash has put together the Hall of Justice (or, the beginning of it anyway) with a round table that sports a star and shield logo at the center. The scene essentially assembles the Arrowverse’s first official Justice League, which includes The Flash, Supergirl, Superman, Martian Manhunter, White Canary, Batwoman and Black Lightning. The seven members of the team sit down at the table, which leaves an eighth seat open for Green Arrow.
The very final moments of Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 5 also introduces a new DC Comics character, though they don’t appear on screen: Gleek. The blue alien monkey appeared on the 70s animated series Super Friends, as the pet of the Wonder Twins. In Crisis, the monkey itself doesn’t appear, but its laugh can be heard and an open cage is shown with the name “GLEEK” printed on it. Perhaps the inclusion of Gleek means the Arrowverse will refer to its team of heroes as the Super Friends. After all, the Super Friends were referenced in The Flash and Supergirl musical crossover. Or the team will go with the name Justice Society of America, but that’s unlikely since it references the group of superheroes in the 1940s that appeared on Legends of Tomorrow.
No matter what team name the Arrowverse’s Justice League uses, it indicates a change in The CW’s DC TV franchise, one that makes it more connected. Not only are all the shows set on Earth-Prime now, but the heroes of the series are united by their inclusion in the group. What’s unclear is whether Green Arrow’s seat will ever be filled. We know Mia Queen will become Green Arrow in the future, but it remains to be seen whether some other character will fill that eighth seat in the interim. With Green Arrow and the Canaries and Superman & Lois Arrowverse spinoffs in the works, not to mention the other continuing Arrowverse shows, there’s plenty of superhero adventures to be had - especially with The CW’s new Justice League.
Next: Arrowverse’s New Multiverse Revealed: Which Shows Are On What Earths