Superman & Lois (Finally) Acknowledges Crisis on Infinite Earths

The Arrowverse finally addresses the unresolved storyline from Crisis on Infinite Earths through John Diggle’s guest appearance on Superman & Lois. Crisis on Infinite Earths is still the Arrowverse’s biggest and most ambitious crossover ever on The CW. Not only did the 5-part event honor multiple DC TV shows and movies, but it was a game-changer for the Arrowverse as it marked the end of one era and the start of another. By the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, all of the Arrowverse shows were set on Earth-Prime, a new reality that Oliver Queen created as The Spectre.

Despite Green Arrow’s tragic death, the heroes have believed that Earth-Prime is the only world that exists after the Crisis. They haven’t realized that Oliver didn’t just create one Earth, but he rebooted the entire Arrowverse multiverse. However, since Superman & Lois premiered, the Arrowverse has slowly re-integrated the multiverse concept through John Henry Irons, a.k.a. Steel. John comes from a different Earth where Superman turned evil and was terrorizing their world. In Superman & Lois episode 12, “Through the Valley of Death,” David Ramsey’s Diggle showed up to help Lois with saving Earth-Prime’s Superman.

Even though Diggle’s guest spot was very brief, it did something significant for the Arrowverse, especially after Crisis on Infinite Earths. When John, General Lane, and Lois were arguing about how to deal with their problem regarding Clark, he references what the evil Superman did to his Earth. That brought out a strong reaction from Diggle since he, like most of the Arrowverse characters, thought Earth-Prime was all that was left of the multiverse. While “Through the Valley of Death” didn’t go further into this, Superman & Lois was able to let someone like Diggle, who was involved with Crisis on Infinite Earths, know that there are still other realities in the multiverse.

After Crisis on Infinite Earths, it always made sense for the Arrowverse not to deal with the twist right away due to everything that happened. However, a lot of time has passed since the crossover. It has always been inevitable that various characters would slowly start to learn what Oliver actually managed to do before his passing. In addition to that, the multiverse has always been one of the Arrowverse’s strongest storytelling devices, as proven on The Flash, Supergirl, and most recently on Superman & Lois. It would be a massive waste for the DC TV shows not to bring back the concept of alternative Earths. That’s why Diggle’s reaction will possibly be important in upcoming seasons, as he might be the one to inform the other heroes how the multiverse still exists.

Diggle’s discovery on Superman & Lois also had good timing ahead of Stargirl season 2, which will build more connections to the rest of the Arrowverse. Crisis on Infinite Earths established that Stargirl is on Earth-2, which will now include John Wesley Shipp’s Jay Garrick, rather than him originally coming from Earth-3. While Diggle’s Green Lantern arc has yet to be resolved, he would be a fascinating character to use next season in exploring the new Arrowverse multiverse. It’d also be out of character for Diggle if he didn’t at least let the other Arrowverse heroes know there are different Earths post-Crisis on Infinite Earths. Hopefully, Diggle’s Superman & Lois guest spot is the start of a potentially compelling storyline for him and the rest of the Arrowverse.

About The Author

Andy Behbakht
(1038 Articles Published)

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Andy is a senior writer at Screen Rant as he has covered the world of entertainment journalism since 2010, including superhero/comic book media. In addition to his work as a reporter, Andy co-hosts The Flash Podcast while running and producing the entire DC TV Podcasts network. He is also the founder/editor-in-chief of The Marvel Report since Fall 2015. Andy has previously written for sites such as FanSided, KSiteTV, TV Fanatic, It’s Just Movies, Heroic Hollywood, TV Overmind, and more.

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