Awesome / Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019)

Hour One (Supergirl)

• While pretty chilling, the Earths shown with Red Skies are pretty awesome. We got Earth-89 (the first Tim Burton Batman film), Earth-9 (Titans) and Earth-66 (the classic 60s Batman series).
  Dick Grayson: HOLY CRIMSON SKIES OF DEATH!
  • The cameo of Earth-89 is done to Danny Elfman's classic Batman theme, and reveal of Earth-66 is done to a dramatic orchestral version of the classic Adam West theme.
• Oliver, Mia, Superman, Supergirl, Batwoman, and Atom fight side-by-side against hordes of shadow demons, buying enough time for about half the planet to evacuate.
• The moment we were dreading for the past year arrives, and Oliver Queen has a Dying Moment of Awesome for the ages. Tasked with protecting the tower that is stabilizing Earth-38 from the Anti-Monitor's army, the heroes hold out as long as they can but finally the Monitor teleports them to safety as they can't do any more. But upon hearing this Earth hasn't been completely evacuated, Oliver shorts out the Monitor's tech so he can continue the fight all on his own. And when he runs out of arrows, he simply charges at the remaining hordes of enemies with his bare hands. When he's brought to the others mortally wounded, the Monitor estimates about a billion more lives were saved thanks to Oliver's sacrifice, and he still manages to hang on long enough for a final goodbye with everyone.
  • Oliver stopping the Monitor from forcing him to retreat deserves some context; in Elseworlds, the Monitor was shown to be so quick that he could teleport both Supergirl and Earth-90's Flash while they were charging him at full speed. Here, Oliver manages to get the drop on the closest thing the Arrowverse has to a Physical God with a bow and arrow, all so that he can buy Earth-38 every last second possible at the cost of his own life.
  • The Monitor later points out that their fight bought time for the evacuation of three billion people, and that Green Arrow's final fighting by himself against the Anti-Monitor's forces were single-handedly responsible for a third of them.

Hour Two (Batwoman)

• It turns out Smallville Clark Kent gave up his powers to start a family with Lois. Even without them, he effortlessly kicks Earth-38 Lex's ass.
  "Still stronger."
  • During his encounter with Earth-38 Lex, Clark is completely unconcerned. He barely listens to Lex's ranting like he doesn't care, no-sells his piece of Kryptonite, and makes an amused quip about not missing the supervillain rants. Then, when Clark has his back turned and Lex gets annoyed enough to try throwing a punch, he simply catches it as he turns back and returns the blow hard enough to send the much smaller man stumbling. Lex proclaims that there's no 'fun' in killing a de-powered Superman, but it's clear he's running with his tail between his legs.
• After years of having him be a He Who Must Not Be Seen, the franchise finally features Batman in person! And who gets to portray him? None other than Kevin Conroy!
• The Superman vs. Superman fight. Seeing Brandon Routh donning the cape again is simply exhilarating.
  • Major points for 'our' Superman withstanding Earth-96 Superman's heat vision for an extended period (they needed to keep E-96 Supes in place to bring him back to his senses, so Arrowverse Supes had to willingly take the full brunt of it for as long as it took instead of continuing to fight him.)
  • Even better with the explicit confirmation that this isn't just Brandon Routh playing any old Superman; this is him playing the same one from Superman Returns. In other words, this is also Christopher Reeve's Superman. One of the most famous and beloved versions of the character. The one who made us all believe a man can fly. The guy who traveled through time by spinning the Earth around. The man who refused to Kneel Before Zod.
• Even though the context is nightmarish, Earth-99 Bruce Wayne killing Superman (as well as several others) and keeping his glasses as a souvenir shows why Batman is rightly feared in Gotham as the Dark Knight.
  • And despite needing an exoskeleton just to walk, he’s still able to knock Supergirl to the ground! Unfortunately for him, his using Kryptonite on Supergirl leads to a fatal Curb-Stomp Battle with Kate.

Hour Three (The Flash)

• In a moment no one thought would actually happen Tom Ellis shows up as Lucifer Morningstar.
  • Especially neat is that with the show having moved from Fox to Netflix, Ellis can now make the exceedingly rare claim to have played the same character on three different networks.
• The Prophecy Twist: right as Barry is about to resign himself to dying in Crisis, Earth-90 Flash proceeds to "temporarily [steal] his speed"...and die in Barry's place. After all, Novu never said which Flash died in Crisis...
  • As Flash!90 sacrifices himself the Danny Elfman score swells to a crescendo.
• Oliver’s current fate is both this and a tearjerker. After being found by Jim Corrigan in Purgatory, he agrees to take on the mantle of god’s vengeance, the Spectre. To put it into perspective, Oliver just gained the mantle of one of the most powerful heroes and beings ever, stronger than Barry, than Superman, etc. And he wasn't given that power by birth or by accident, he was chosen due to his experiences, his character and his actions.
• Kate squaring up to Kara, willing to fight her to prevent her from trying to use the Book of Destiny - risking her sanity - to bring back Earth-38. Kate's been in over her head this entire crossover, overwhelmed with the scope of the fight given her relatively new vigilante role and her Badass Normal status, but she's still willing to challenge a Physical God with nothing on her side except for a tiny bit of kryptonite (which she didn't even know anything about until a few hours prior), all to try to keep a friend from harm. Paragon of Courage indeed.
• Barry referring to Thawne as "one of my enemies" when telling Jefferson about his dad. Clearly he is no longer living rent-free inside Barry's mind.
• As the anti-matter wave sweeps over them, Iris shoots a panicked look at Earth-38 Superman, who just gives her an encouraging nod. As he dies, he doesn't so much as change expression, refusing to let the Anti-Monitor see him sweat.
  • It should be noted that even Ralph and Diggle, both fairly experienced heroes, look nervous at the end. Superman? Absolutely cool as a cucumber until his very last second.
• A villainous example: Anti-Monitor/Mobius actually delivers his promise to destroy the entire multiverse, including Earth-1, which many predicted would have had Plot Armor, something that not even the Anti-Monitor of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths comic was able to do. By the end, the multiverse has a grand total of eight known survivors. Darkest Hour doesn't even begin to describe it.
• Another villainous example: Lex escapes death at the last minute by changing places with Earth-96 Superman. By writing on the Book of Destiny with a permanent marker. You gotta admit the sick bastard got some brains to remember doing such thing in the midst of a multiverse-ending apocalypse.

Hour Four (Arrow)

• We find Barry in the Speed Force, tasked with finding his friends who were shunted into it by the Spectre to keep them safe from the Anti-Monitor. Appearing at an effigy of STAR Labs, he is once again face to face with himself...but not John Wesley Shipp. In what is unquestionably one of the biggest shockers in the entire Arrowverse, we see the one version of Barry Allen we thought we'd never see...Ezra Miller. Yes, you're reading that right. The Barry Allen of the DC Extended Universe. Both Barrys are very surprised at meeting each other, with DCEU!Barry wondering how this is even possible, a very meta line considering that despite Miller's wish for this to happen years ago, the historical tension between the two 'verses would've made a cameo from anybody in that universe impossible. Even if Warner Bros. have been slowly lifting the embargo of characters crossing over, nobody would've even thought this would happen.
  • The whole context is required: principal filming on all of Crisis had wrapped, and WB head Peter Roth called Marc Guggenheim and asked if he could put Ezra in. Marc called Grant Gustin and Ezra, both were on board, and unlike Tom Ellis, no one knew about it...not even the other Arrowverse actors.
  • When Earth-1 Barry introduces himself as the Flash, DCEU!Barry makes it clear that he's never heard that name before...and now that he has, he decides to embrace it as his own. That's right, the TV Flash is the one who inspired the movie Flash to finally use the name.
• Alongside two Badass Normals, two aliens, and two superhumans (courtesy of Lex Luthor using the Book of Destiny to give himself powers), a non-Atom Ryan Choi is easily the weakest of the seven Paragons. This doesn't stop him from charging into battle against the Anti-Monitor's army in the slightest.
  Ryan: Die, you creepy shadow things!
• On that note, Lex Luthor using the Book of Destiny to give himself powers. Even in the midst of the apocalypse, he's a The Chessmaster through and through.
• Oliver's final sacrifice to restore the multiverse. Sure, the Anti-Monitor survived to menace our heroes one last time in Hour Five, but his heroism will not be forgotten, especially since the only reason there's still a reality to fight over at this point is because Oliver remade it.
  • And to make it even more perfect, his last words to the Anti-Monitor:
    Oliver: You have failed...THIS UNIVERSE!
  • Ollie's final taunt to the Anti-Monitor is more than just a one-liner. His catchphrase has always been directed at white-collar criminals who abused their power for petty gains. Now he's using it against the physical embodiment of antimatter, degrading his foe down to little more than another punk that's getting his just desserts.
• Lex Luthor using his intuition as the Paragon of Truth that he and the rest of the Paragons needed to use the remains of the Book of Destiny to rebuild Earth-Prime.

Hour Five (Legends of Tomorrow)

• A particularly dark example, but still: Lex manipulated everything into his grasp, and has managed to become head of the DEO on Earth-Prime, beloved by everyone, with few who know his true nature.
• The entire final fight against the Anti-Monitor is a culmination of everything we've seen in the Arrowverse so far. And it's full of spectacle, you are forgiven for thinking that you've just seen a movie, rather than a TV show.
• The ending. Barry/The Flash, Sara/White Canary, Clark/Superman, Kara/Supergirl, Jefferson/Black Lightning, Kate/Batwoman, and J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter form the JLA in all but name. Even more, the abandoned STAR Labs building Barry is using for all of this? It's the friggin' Hall of Justice!
  • And for one last reference? The new Justice League hear a noise on the roof and we cut to a cage labeled Gleek.
  • Not to mention the orchestral version of the 1970s Super Friends theme playing.
• Just before this we see a montage of the restored Earths, including some we've seen before (including Superman of Earth-96, now with a brighter-colored costume), and some we haven't: Swamp Thing, both Titans and Doom Patrol (confirming both are in fact on separate Earths), the debut of Stargirl, and even Green Lantern (2011).
  • What's more is that the montage perfectly captures the nature of the worlds shown. The epic action of Titans, the quirkiness of Doom Patrol, the morose and somber tone of Swamp Thing, the grand scale of Green Lantern and the passing of the torch of Stargirl.
    • Seeing Green Lantern (2011) acknowledged after years of derision is pretty awesome too, and leaves hope for the Lanterns to rise again in live action.
  • The final shot of the montage is of the Earth-96 Superman, the yellow returned to his S-shield (implying that his family and friends were brought back), and what does he do? Fly out into space, smile for the camera.