What are the best comic book movies ever made? Ask anyone on Twitter, something that happens once a day, given how frequent and popular comic book movies have become, and you’ll get the same handful of responses. The dark knight. Avengers Endgame. Logan. Superman: the movie. You’ll get some people with unconventional responses still getting some love, like Josie and the Pussies or Road to Doom. But one that doesn’t appear as often as it should, is Crisis on Earth-X . The four-part Arrowverse crossover marks arguably the highest watermark of crossover event dynamics as movies, and it’s such a clever and cohesive piece that it’s probably the best screen treatment many of the characters involved will likely receive in one., widescreen story.
Just over three years ago, the Arrowverse shows – then Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow – crossed through what, up to that point, was the biggest and most ambitious effort they had ever attempted: “Crisis in the Earth -X . The four-part story brought all the heroes together for four episodes (one from each show), broadcast over a two-day period. Playing as much as a single feature film as anything else you’re likely to see on superhero TV, “Crisis on Earth-X” pitted the heroes of Earth-1 and Earth-38 (where Supergirl came from) against their evil Doppelgangers. from Earth-X, a world where the Nazis won World War II.
Annual Arrowverse crossover events aren’t always easy to see as “movies” The invasion! “The plot was close, but given the 100th episode of Arrow In the midst of this, there were a number of moments where it felt as if the” movie “was interrupted by a television episode.” Crisis on Earth-X ” was a bit different: in addition to being quite independent, the story had a rhythm that really flowed from episode to episode organically. “Elseworlds,” which followed “Earth-X,” was a single, coherent narrative, but it was scaled down , partly in response to the burnout and burnout of the show’s lead actors after “Crisis on Earth-X.” And then came “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” which is arguably the most exciting thing the shows have ever done, but given its massive reach and cast in the thousands, it feels a little less cohesive than “Earth-X.” Given how small the “Elseworlds” felt, You have a bit of the Goldilocks factor when you try all three: “too hot, too cold, perfect. “And” Crisis on Earth-X “is where many fans think they got it right.
We are hardly the first to point out that it is a great “superhero movie” But the benefits of the Arrowverse, the long, emotional connection fans have with the characters they’ve been following for five years at the time, helped it really connect with an audience in a way that’s hard to beat. It also features writers who have a fundamental understanding of what makes characters tick and what makes them attractive. That comes with the kind of familiarity that generates years of constant work (this is also why Marvel movies seem to get better and better as they go on). Similarly, the actors, who for the most part were already pretty well selected,
Framing the whole thing around Barry and Oliver’s relationships and their respective love interests, “Crisis on Earth-X” gave casual fans an emotional and understandable hook for the story. It arguably works better as a movie than it does on television, as Barry and Iris tied the knot in an episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. They also had to share their wedding with Oliver and Felicity, which is nice when you’re making a movie and Oliver and Barry’s relationship is at the center of it … less nice when fans of each character pair have invested in them. nuptials for five years.
And, like Infinity War or Endgame, “Crisis on Earth-X” has important roles for the various members of the Legends team, which is a rarity for these crossovers, where usually only Sara and Ray have a lot of play. The Firestorm story that anchors the final act of the “movie” is clever and heartfelt, and understandable at first glance to people who don’t watch the show, but understand a tortured parent-child dynamic when they watch it.
