Arrowverse producer Marc Guggenheim is here to explain why Smallville received the Earth number it did in Crisis on Infinite Earths. The crossover event not only featured all five of The CW's Arrowverse series, it also boasted cameos from a number of other DC films and TV shows. What's more, it went across networks and streaming services, featuring Tom Ellis of Lucifer, characters from Titans, and even the DCEU's Flash, Ezra Miller. Crisis on Infinite Earths also paid homage to classic DC properties, like the 1960s live-action Batman series, among others.
Fans were particularly excited about appearances by Tom Welling and Erica Durance, who played Clark Kent and Lois Lane on Smallville. That series concluded in 2011 and showed Clark's journey to becoming Superman. In many ways, it was a precursor to the Arrowverse and other present-day superhero shows. In Crisis on Infinite Earths, each DC property received a different Earth designation, often a reference to a related comic or something similar. For example, Lucifer lived on Earth-666, a reference to the number of the Beast, aka the devil. While that particular Earth's number was easy to figure out, others, like Smallville's, proved more challenging.
However, producer Marc Guggenheim is here to clear things up. In a conversation with Fake Nerd Podcast, Guggenheim revealed why Smallville received the Earth-167 designation:
We deviated from our naming methodology. For the most part we, at least as a starting off point, named the Earth after the year that the property debuted. So like Flash 90 is a reference to 1990, the year The Flash television show debuted. With respect to Smallville, I forget why we didn’t use Smallville’s premiere year, we might’ve been using it for something else but [it was] suggested 167, which I believe is a nod to Al Gough’s birth year. He’s the co-creator of Smallville.
Not only does this explanation from Guggenheim reveal why Smallville's Earth received the number it did, it also confirms there was, as the producer mentions, a "naming methodology" that was used in most cases.
Though Crisis on Infinite Earths only aired a couple months ago, Arrowverse creatives are already hard at work on next season's crossover event. In January, Guggenheim revealed the Arrowverse's next crossover will be smaller than Crisis, explaining it will involve "returning to the roots of our crossovers." In the past, The CW has staged smaller but equally entertaining crossovers, such as 2017's musical episode of The Flash, which also featured characters from Supergirl. Guggenheim has also shared the Arrowverse writers already have a story in mind for next season's event.
Considering the scope of Crisis on Infinite Earths, it's not surprising that tidbits like this one about Smallville continue to be revealed. It's the sort of crossover that needs to be watched multiple times to pick up on everything. The reasoning for Smallville's Earth designation speaks to the care Arrowverse creatives took with every decision made for the crossover. Easter eggs are always a fun treat for fans, especially when they're as well-hidden as this one was.
Source: Fake Nerd Podcast