Arrowverse: What Happened To Smallville & Other Missing Earths After Crisis

What does the merging of timelines and the creation of a new multiverse at the ending of the Arrowverse‘s Crisis on Infinite Earths mean for the shows that no longer have their own Earths? Current shows from the DC Universe have their own worlds again, but Crisis “Part 5” didn’t include any mention of what happened to Smallville, Birds of Prey, and several more of the older shows that had previous cameo appearances in the CW’sTV crossover event — what happened to the characters from these Earths?

The first two episodes of Crisis on Infinite Earths showed viewers some of the other timelines that exist in the Arrowverse. Assorted cameos from established DC characters confirmed the inclusion of shows and movies like Titans, Smallville, Birds of Prey, the 1960s Batman, and the 1989 Batman starring Michael Keaton. Also, Brandon Routh’s Kingdom Come Superman adds the classic Superman movies with Christopher Reeves (and Superman Returns) to the Arrowverse, while Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce finally brought Black Lightning into the Arrowverse.

The Infinite Earths were destroyed by the Anti-Monitor, leaving no one but the seven Paragons and Oliver Queen’s Spectre (Stephen Amell) to oppose him. After a tense battle at the Dawn of Time, the Anti-Monitor was defeated by Spectre, and with the help of the seven Paragons, the multiverse was reborn. Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and the others found themselves back home, but everything was different. Earth-1, Supergirl‘s Earth-38, and Black Lightning‘s Earth all merged together to form Earth-Prime. A few other Earths were created in the process, but nothing was said about the other Earths that were incorporated into Arrowverse canon earlier in the crossover. So what happened to them?

Every Earth That Now Exists In Arrowverse’s New Multiverse

Characters in the CW shows may no longer have the need to travel to different Earths to meet each other, because now six of them share the same world. Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman already occupied the same Earth, but Earth-Prime in the new multiverse now includes Supergirl and Black Lightning. This means that none of the Arrowverse shows may venture outside of Earth-Prime again.

All four live-action shows on DC’s streaming universe, DC Universe, all have their own Earths. Titans has Earth-9 (just as it did pre-Crisis), Doom Patrol has Earth-21, Swamp Thing has Earth-19, and Stargirl now has Earth-2. It would seem that Earth-2 has been completely remade, since it was previously a parallel Earth to Earth-1, which meant that it included different versions of the same people, played by the same actors.

Archive footage from 2011’s Green Lantern, a movie starring Ryan Reynolds and co-written by Arrowverse producer Marc Guggenheim, introduced Earth-12, but it’s likely that this footage wasn’t used to bring the film into the Arrowverse; instead, it makes more sense that Earth-12 is actually the home of HBO Max’s new Green Lantern series (which was created by another Arrowverse producer, Greg Berlanti).

Lastly, there’s the reborn Earth-96, which has been restored to the status quo from Superman Returns. Brandon Routh’s Superman no longer has the black emblem of the Kingdom Come character, which means that the tragic events between Superman Returns and Crisis never happened.

Smallville’s Superman and Other Characters Are Still Alive

Crisis on Infinite Earths revealed that the worlds from at least some shows live on, but what of the others? An Arrowverse producer has confirmed the survival of at least one character from outside the six shows based on Earth-Prime and the Earths mentioned above: Smallville‘s Clark Kent (Tom Welling).

The second installment of Crisis on Infinite Earths officially brought Smallville to the Arrowverse with a scene on the Kent Farm that featured Clark Kent and Erica Durance’s Lois Lane. Crisis provided a happy ending for Clark by revealing that he gave up his powers to start a family with Lois. Crisis wiped out his timeline, Earth-167, in the following episode. Arrowverse boss Marc Guggenheim has publicly stated that Smallville‘s Superman is still living out his happy ending without his powers. What’s not said is where Clark is now. A new place of residence isn’t specified. Can he and Lois live on Earth-Prime when it already has its own Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch)? If not, he could exist on one of the other newly established Earths. There’s also the case of the DCEU. Its Earth isn’t mentioned, but its characters must still exist somewhere in the multiverse. Guggenheim has decided to leave this question to DC and Warner Bros.

What Happened To The Missing Earths After Crisis

Just because a DC character’s Earth was erased and never restored doesn’t mean they are gone too. If Smallville‘s Clark can be brought back without his Earth, then the same may hold true for other heroes and villains as well. The fact that there are still three Superman in the multiverse means that though the multiverse is much smaller, it’s still possible for multiple version of the same person to exist at once. The problem, though, is that there obviously can’t be more than one version of the same character on just one Earth.

For instance, it wouldn’t work for Burt Ward’s Robin to be restored on a world that already has a Dick Grayson, such as Titans‘ Earth-9, since Brenton Thwaites plays the character on the DC Universe series. But, if there’s no Dick Grayson on Earth-96, parts of his own Earth-66 could have merged with that world. Meanwhile, Smallville‘s Clark and Lois could be continuing their peaceful lives on Swamp Thing‘s Earth-19, a series that never touched Superman. Earth-Prime has proven that the merging of worlds is possible. In fact, the Arrowverse may have done this already in the last chapter of Crisis on Infinite Earths with the Hall of Justice and the Gleek cameo from Super Friends.

Similarly, the Arrowverse may have also quietly found new homes for heroes from Birds of Prey and other shows, but it may never be known what they are. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, leaving their fates up to the imagination of the viewer may be best in some cases. Just the idea that their favorite DC TV characters may still be out there somewhere — rather than having been permanently obliterated by a wave of antimatter — may be good enough to satisfy fans.

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