Warning: Spoilers for Superman & Lois season 2, episode 15
The Superman & Lois season 2 finale proves that the ending to the Arrowverse’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event doesn’t matter anymore. As the biggest crossover in the history of the Arrowverse, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” was always meant to be a game-changing story for The CW’s shows. And, true to form, the implications of the ending were just as huge as they were expected to be.
In the 1980s, DC Comics accomplished one major goal by publishing Crisis on Infinite Earths, a story that reshaped and streamlined the DC Universe. The number of alternate timelines and different versions of characters that existed in DC’s multiverse had made things confusing for readers, so erasing all the other worlds and leaving room for only one solved this problem for DC. The Arrowverse’s take on the Crisis fulfilled a similar purpose by creating Earth-Prime. As a result, the divide that separated Supergirl, Superman, and Black Lightning was eliminated, presumably for good, thus allowing all of these characters to co-exist with Team Arrow, the Flash, the Legends, and Batwoman on a single Earth.
Due to a reveal in the Superman & Lois season 2 finale, it’s become apparent that despite how massive this change was supposed to be for the Arrowverse, its impact is no longer relevant. A remark from Sam Lane provided confirmation that Superman exists on his own Earth, separate from all other metahuman heroes like the Flash and Supergirl. In isolating Superman, the Arrowverse has set things back to what they were before the Crisis happened. Prior to the event, a character like Superman and Supergirl would have to cross universes just to team up with another Arrowverse hero. The Crisis erased this need, but Superman & Lois just completely reversed the change.
Why Superman & Lois’ Arrowverse Change Is So Important
This reveal alone is enough to show that the Crisis’ impact on the Arrowverse has ended. While it’s true that Superman wasn’t the only hero affected by the ending, it’s important to note that there isn’t anyone else left to benefit from it, either. After all, Superman & Lois and The Flash are the only active Arrowverse shows left. Part of the point of the Crisis was to make it possible for characters from separate shows to easily meet, and now the only two shows that could still take advantage of that change are unable to make use of it.
Because of interdimensional travel, Arrowverse crossovers between Superman & Lois and The Flash can still happen, but then, that’s no different from what things were like before the Crisis. What’s worse is that the Arrowverse got only a limited amount of mileage out of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” in the first place, as post-Crisis crossovers were few and far between anyway. There was a sense that the Arrowverse would eventually get an opportunity to rectify that by making the most out of Superman and Supergirl sharing the same planet with everyone else, but Superman & Lois has unfortunately dimmed those hopes.