The official Twitter account for The CW's Supergirl has revealed the title of the Arrowverse crossover, called 'Crisis on Earth-X' begins November 27th. The four-part event confirms speculation going back to September 2016 with the announcement of animated Arrowverse spinoff Freedom Fighters: The Ray, which will follow superhero The Ray on Earth-X, where the live-action Arrow, Supergirl and The Flash will eventually meet up.One of many alternate realities in DC's Pre-Crisis Multiverse, Earth-X is one of the most suitable for this kind of production because of its simple premise: what if World War II lasted decades longer and the Nazis eventually won? On this Earth, American president Franklin D. Roosevelt has a heart attack in 1944, at the height of the conflict between the Allied and Axis forces, and the resulting US political disarray with a Japanese assault on California allowed Hitler to develop nuclear weapons. A stand-off ensued, none of the world's superpowers wishing to use weapons of mass destruction because of the collateral damage, during which Germany betray Japan to become the conglomerate power of the Axis. And as is how the German war machine operated, Hitler and his scientists continued to experiment on greater and more advanced weaponry, eventually developing mind control technology that would win him the war in 1968. The world fell to an Orwellian Nazi regime and small pockets of resistance is all that's left against the fascist menace.A group called the Freedom Fighters lead this resistance, themselves led by Uncle Sam a physical manifestation of American patriotism who presents himself propaganda symbol of the same name. The Fighters are an interesting tidbit in DC history because the team is comprised of heroes from another company, Quality Comics, that DC acquired in 1956. Quality was enormously influential during the Golden Age of comics and many of their stories and characters had a jingoistic flair to them. Earth-X was basically manufactured as a reason to use them without worrying about integrating them too much. Their first DC appearance is in Justice League #107, on Earth-X, where it's assumed they're just the heroes of this world who've continued to stand against Hitler and his armies (a later retcon has them as Earth Two natives who travel to Earth-X). The team includes Uncle, who has a selection of superhuman abilities like strength, speed and invulnerability, and the power to detect objects important to American history - no, really; Black Condor; Doll Man; Human Bomb; Phantom Lady; and the Ray.
The Justice Society of America and Justice League, including Batman, Red Tornado, Green Arrow, Dr. Fate, Sandman, Elongated Man, Superman, and others, accidentally land on Earth-X in 1973 using a Trans-Matter Cube (inter-dimensional vehicle) and decide to help the Fighters in destroying transmitters of the Nazi mind-control signal and overthrowing Hitler. Splitting into two teams, they begin infiltrating outposts that are transmitting the brainwashing signals and dismantling the psychological hold Hitler has around the globe. A standoff with Adolf himself reveals that a Nazi computer program has actually taken control from the Germans, Hitler now being just another machine pawn. Red Tornado brings down the satellite at the center of the evil program's mainframe and destroys the signal permanently, bringing down the Swastika-wearing forces once and for all, allowing the Justice groups to return to their Earth, leaving Earth-X to rebuild.Although Earth-X only lasts two issues, it's one of the more memorable of DC's alternate realities because of how on-the-nose it is. Superman has always been an analogy for good-hearted American values, and here he's paired up with the living spirit of the American government to stop an almost-totally victorious Nazi threat. It stops just short of replicating the cover of Captain America #1 where Cap punches Hitler, instead veering off into sci-fi so as to avoid being seen as a total redux. The Freedom fighters would go on to become recurring members of the DC universe.
Arrowverse
There's a lot of ways The CW can depict Earth-X for the Arrowverse. Obviously, budget constraints do present some limitation, but a lot of the basic stuff is already established enough to pull it off convincingly. Legends of Tomorrow has already created a stand-in Justice Society of America with Commander Steel, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hourman, Vixen, Stargirl and Obsidian. Between them and the heroes also established across Supergirl, The Flash and Arrow, there's plenty to work with Supergirl alone has both Martian Manhunter and Superman, so the Justice League isn't a concern either.
Ditto for the inter-dimensional travel. The inter-dimensional extrapolator, as seen in Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl, allows for Kara for hop and communicate between two separate Earths already, so a new device based on the same technology malfunctioning isn't a big leap. Similarly, The Flash has had recurring dealings with dimension and timeline hopping, having dealt with Earths One, Two and Three as well as a riff on the DC event Flashpoint that opened the third season. Barry Allen and Jay Garrick even teamed up to reproduce the cover of 'Flash of Two Worlds' (Flash #123) in the episode of the same name. The speedster connection to the Speed Force allows for the limitless use of other dimensions as the show has always seen fit.
The real question is what the conflict of this crossover will be. Battling Hitler and any swastika-wearing follower of his will always make for good, wholesome heroic storytelling, but the teaser for Freedom Fighters: The Ray and comments from Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim suggest a more interesting and tactful narrative. Melissa Benoist, along with several other Arrowverse alum whose characters make appearances, is lending her voice to Freedom Fighters: The Ray as Overgirl, an Earth-X doppelganger of Supergirl. Overgirl is an evil version of Supergirl who's grown up in the Nazi-infest Earth-X and is thus a power for fascism. She's joined by a Nazi Arrow and a Nazi Flash, the three of whom will be the reigning powers on Earth-X when our heroes arrive.
In The Ray, the Ray Terrill incarnation of the light-manipulating titular hero will be leading the rebellion against the Reich in modern-day America. Terrill is a gay hero, and Guggenheim has specified that one of the things The CW want to œstay true to in doing Earth-X is Grant Morrison's idea that the Freedom Fighters were all people whom the Nazis disliked women, gay people, Jews and so on. The Freedom Fighters in the teaser are a diverse bunch already, and it sounds like whatever other Fighters are brought in or mentioned will be in this mold. As well as being an origin story for The Ray, it seems like this Freedom Fighters series and crossover will explore fascism in a modern context too.
The last season of Supergirl set a thematic precedent for this kind of political discourse. Her battle with the Daxamites had very overt connotations toward President Trump and his œMake America Great Again rhetoric. Immediately going from that into a Nazi-dominated alternate timeline is hardly subtle, but using alter-egos of the main characters rather than Hitler will surely produce some powerful messaging on heroism and how valor and righteousness can so easily be perverted, without hiding behind the scapegoat of villains past.
Needless to say, 'Crisis on Earth-X' is looking like it'll be the biggest and most ambitious Arrowverse crossover yet. The scale, tone, and premise is new ground for The CW's heroes and the ramifications are sure to reverberate well into the rest of their respective seasons. Kara, Barry, and Oliver have faced several crises together, but none quite like this November can't get here fast enough.