The CW’s big DC superhero crossover event, Crisis On Infinite Earths, is getting even bigger.
This weekend at the Television Critic Association’s summer press tour it was announced that characters from their series Black Lightening was going to be part of the event. It was also revealed that actor Kevin Conroy, who has given voice to animated and video game versions of Batman all the way back to 1992 and who is considered by many to be the definitive performer of the character in any medium, will be playing an older version of Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne in the five hour event.
It was not specified which Black Lightening characters would be participating in the five night event, though series lead Cress Williams indicated on Instagram that he was going to be a part of the event.
Based on the classic 1980s comic book storyline, Crisis On Infinite Earths will see the heroes from a number of parallel Earths join forces to stop a threat so powerful that it could destroy the entire multiverse. The five hour event on the CW will be the latest in their annual crossover stories that see heroes from most of their various DC Comics based shows – Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow – team up. The ground work for this coming event was laid during last year’s team-up, Elseworlds, as well as in brief moments in each of those show’s season finales this past May. The mulit-world concept allows the shows to bring in elements from previous live action incarnations of DC Comics heroes. Last year’s Elseworlds featured John Wesley Shipp returning as the Flash from the 1990 TV series of the same name.
Conroy and the Black Lightening characters join an ever-growing cast of DC Comics superheroes who will be appearing in the event. Brandon Routh, who currently plays Ray Palmer/The Atom on Legends Of Tomorrow will be pulling double duty by playing a variation of Superman based on the near future-set Kingdom Come comics storyline. He will be appearing alongside Tyler Hoechlin who has had a recurring role as Superman on Supergirl.
Interestingly, the announcement states Conroy will be playing an older Bruce Wayne but not necessarily Batman. That leaves his role in the story open for speculation. Some fans are speculating that Conroy as an older Bruce Wayne suggests the possibility that hero Terry McGillis, who takes up the Batman mantle in the popular animated series Batman Beyond, could make an appearance here. Others speculate that with Routh playing a Kingdom Come-based Superman, Conroy could possibly be the Bruce Wayne from that storyline.
Black Lightening has been kept pretty clear from the rest of the CW’s Arrowverse shows, partly due to it being tonally a bit different from the other shows. But practicality also plays a part in that separation with Black Lightening shooting in Atlanta, Georgia while the other shows all are filmed in Vancouver, Canada.
Crisis On Infinite Earths will have its first three episodes play out in December with the remaining two episodes airing in January 2020 after the holidays.
