Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Legends of Tomorrow - Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five


If the climax of Crisis turned out to be a bit underwhelming the epilogue brings back some fun. The first episode of the Fifth Season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow introduces us to a new world. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and the Paragons didn't rebirth the entire Multiverse, only a single universe with one Earth where all our heroes live. Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) is doubly surprised to find out she shares her Earth with Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and that Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) had one last move up his sleeve in resetting his role on the new Earth as a beloved benefactor rather than sociopathic villain. Only the Paragons remember the events of Crisis, although J'onn (David Harewood) is able to remedy the siutation fairly quickly to clue in the rest of the heroes as to what is happening, including a final appearance of the Anti-Monitor.

While offering some action and tension with the final battle of the Anti-Monitor, and moments for the various heroes (including most of the core Arrow cast) to grieve for Oliver's sacrifice, the episode does bring back the zany fun The CW's most irreverent super-hero show is known for. We get Mick's (Dominic Purcell) book signing, various Legends discussing yet another crossover pulling them in, a cameo by the original comic's writer Marv Wolfman, and the return of Beebo. The heroes uniting on one Earth also pushes forward the Hall of Justice storyline teased in the previous crossover (while foreshadowing the appearance of a Super-Friends supporting character?).

In terms of a single world created from many, the crossover ends much like the comic series although there are some important differences. In the comic a group of duplicate heroes were left stranded on a world where there already was a Clark Kent, Lois Lane, etc. and chose to explore the infinite searching for their universe's loved ones (which allowed for a follow up comic event years later). While leaving plenty for the individual show's to work out over the next several months what one world means for each show, this idea is glossed over suggesting there are no duplicates (although one could easily be introduced at some point in the future).

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