This week is a huge one for Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow — as they face a Crisis on Earth-X in a special two-night crossover event spanning the four series.
As the title suggests, this collection of superheroes will have their work cut out as they try to thwart the nefarious machinations of the occupants of Earth-X.
The use of alternate earths has been a mainstay in comics for a long time now. Indeed, Supergirl is actually set on a different version of earth to both The Flash, Arrow and Legends Of Tomorrow, but she is still able to cross over thanks to an inter-dimensional device which Cisco Ramone knocked up for her. That said, Starlabs in the universe of The Flash also has a portal device that allows people to come and go between the different versions of earth.
To date, we’ve not really seen a great deal of the alternate earths on the various series — which is likely due to both budgetary and logistical reasons. So it will be interesting to see how the writers and producers of these shows pull off Earth-X, which is a version of earth in which Germany and Hitler’s Nazi Party won the Second World War.
In the comics, Earth-X introduced Nazi versions of Supergirl, The Flash and Green Arrow, but they went by other names. In an interview for Comic Book Resources, Melissa Benoist said that the Earth-X version of Supergirl is the worst one we’ll likely see.
She said: “I did play two characters [in the crossover]. I did wear a very different outfit. There’s still a cape and my face is covered and she’s not so nice. It was pretty challenging. I thought it was going to be — I’ve done here and there, I’ve had moments like that on this show with Bizarro and when Martian Manhunter takes over Kara’s body, but this was entirely different. This was not even Red Kryptonite-isque. This was way worse.”
This certainly lines up with the Crisis on Earth-X teaser in which evil Supergirl is ruling the dark dimension of Earth-X. This goes firmly against Supergirl’s moral and ethical codes, which means it will be a great deal of fun to see the two doppelgängers duke it out.
It’s not all bad news for our superheroes though. They also have some help from a group of heroes from Earth-X who have been battling against the Nazis — including Citizen Cold (an alternate heroic version of the villainous Captain Cold) and The Ray, who is a member of the Freedom Fighters — a group that battles against Earth-X and its oppressive regime.
According to Arrow star Stephen Amell, this is so much more than a crossover — it’s an event which took six weeks out of the production schedule of all four shows.
The four-hour crossover event begins on tonight’s Supergirl in which all the heroes are gathered for the wedding of Barry Allen and Iris West, but when the party is crashed by an army from Earth-X the gang has to band together and stage a fight-back with some help from a few new heroes.
Crisis on Earth-X airs over two nights starting Monday November 27 at 8/7c on The CW.