The Arrowverse's Earth-X Crossover Explained

The Flash

The official Twitter account for The CW’sSupergirlhas revealed the title of the Arrowverse crossover , called ' Crisis on Earth - X ' begins November 27th . The four - part event confirms surmise become back to September 2016 with the promulgation of animated Arrowverse spinoffFreedom fighter : The Ray , which will come after superhero The Ray on Earth - X , where the live - action Arrow , Supergirl and The Flash will finally fulfil up . One of many alternate realities in DC ’s Pre - Crisis Multiverse , Earth - X is one of the most suitable for this form of yield because of its elementary premise : what if World War II survive decades longer and the Nazis eventually get ahead ? On this world , American president Franklin D. Roosevelt has a heart attack in 1944 , at the altitude of the conflict between the Allied and Axis forces , and the resulting US political disarray with a Nipponese assault on California allowed Hitler to develop atomic weapons . A stand - off ensued , none of the world ’s superpowers wishing to expend weapons of mass demolition because of the verificatory damage , during which Germany betray Japan to become the conglomerate power of the Axis . And as is how the German war machine operated , Hitler and his scientists uphold to experiment on slap-up and more advanced implements of war , eventually developing judgment ascendance technology that would pull ahead him the war in 1968 . The world fell to an Orwellian Nazi regime and small pocket of resistance is all that ’s leave against the fascist threat . A mathematical group shout the Freedom Fighters lead this resistance , themselves led by Uncle Sam a physical manifestation of American nationalism who pose himself propaganda symbol of the same name . The Fighters are an interesting titbit in DC history because the squad is comprised of heroes from another ship’s company , Quality Comics , that DC develop in 1956 . Quality was enormously influential during the Golden Age of comedian and many of their storey and character had a jingoistic dash to them . Earth - X was basically manufactured as a grounds to use them without worrying about integrate them too much . Their first DC appearance is inJustice League#107 , on Earth - X , where it ’s assumed they ’re just the sub of this existence who ’ve continued to stand against Hitler and his armies ( a later retcon has them as Earth Two natives who travel to Earth - X ) . The team include Uncle , who has a natural selection of superhuman abilities like forcefulness , velocity and invulnerability , and the might to observe objects of import to American story - no , really ; Black Condor ; Doll Man ; Human Bomb ; Phantom Lady ; and the Ray . The Justice Society of America and Justice League , let in Batman , Red Tornado , Green Arrow , Dr. Fate , Sandman , Elongated Man , Superman , and others , accidentally dry land on Earth - X in 1973 using a Trans - Matter Cube ( inter - dimensional vehicle ) and adjudicate to aid the Fighters in destroy transmitters of the Nazi judgement - control signal and overthrowing Hitler . Splitting into two teams , they begin infiltrating outpost that are communicate the brainwash signals and raze the psychological hold Hitler has around the Earth . A standoff with Adolf himself break that a Nazi computer program has actually taken mastery from the Germans , Hitler now being just another machine cat’s-paw . Red Tornado brings down the satellite at the mall of the malign program ’s mainframe computer and destroys the signal for good , contribute down the Swastika - fall apart forces once and for all , allow the Justice group to return to their Earth , leaving Earth - X to rebuild . Although Earth - X only go two result , it ’s one of the more memorable of DC ’s alternative realism because of how on - the - nose it is . Superman has always been an doctrine of analogy for good - hearted American value , and here he ’s paired up with the endure sprightliness of the American government to stop an almost - entirely triumphant Nazi scourge . It stops just short of copy the cover of Captain America # 1 where Cap perforate Hitler , instead veering off into sci - fi so as to avert being seen as a total redux . The Freedom fighters would go on to become recurring members of the DC universe .

Arrowverse

There ’s a great deal of ways The CW can depict Earth - X for the Arrowverse . Obviously , budget constraints do present some limitation , but a mass of the basic stuff is already established enough to pull it off convincingly . legend of Tomorrow has already created a stand - in Justice Society of America with Commander Steel , Dr. Mid - Nite , Hourman , Vixen , Stargirl and Obsidian . Between them and the heroes also established across Supergirl , The Flash and Arrow , there ’s wad to mould with Supergirl alone has both Martian Manhunter and Superman , so the Justice League is n’t a business organisation either .

Ditto for the inter - dimensional travel . The inter - dimensional extrapolator , as control inLegends of TomorrowandSupergirl , allow for for Kara for hop and communicate between two separate Earth already , so a raw gadget based on the same engineering malfunctioning is n’t a big leap . likewise , The Flashhas had recurring relations with dimension and timeline hopping , having dealt with Earths One , Two and Three as well as a Riffian on the DC eventFlashpointthat launch the third season . Barry Allen and Jay Garrick even teamed up to multiply the cover of ' Flash of Two Worlds ' ( Flash#123 ) in the episode of the same name . The speedster connection to the Speed Force allows for the unbounded use of other dimension as the show has always seen fit .

InThe Ray , the Ray Terrill personification of the faint - manipulate titulary hero will be leading the rebellion against the Reich in mod - day America . Terrill is a gay hero , and Guggenheim has specified that one of the thing The CW want to stay true to in doing Earth - X is Grant Morrison ’s idea that the Freedom Fighters were all mass whom the Nazis disliked adult female , gay mass , Jews and so on . The Freedom Fighters in the teaser are a diverse cluster already , and it vocalize like whatever other Fighters are brought in or remark will be in this mold . As well as being an origin story for The Ray , it seems like this Freedom Fighters series and crossover will explore fascism in a modern circumstance too .

The last time of year ofSupergirlset a thematic case law for this kind of political discourse . Her battle with the Daxamites had very overt connotations toward President Trump and his Make America Great Again empty talk . Immediately going from that into a Nazi - dominate alternate timeline is hardly subtle , but using alter - ego of the primary characters rather than Hitler will surely produce some powerful electronic messaging on valorousness and how valorousness and righteousness can so easily be perverted , without hiding behind the scapegoat of scoundrel past .

gratuitous to say , ' Crisis on Earth - X ' is looking like it ’ll be the biggest and most challenging Arrowverse crossover yet . The scale , tone , and premise is new earth for The CW ’s heroes and the ramifications are certain to reverberate well into the rest of their various seasons . Kara , Barry , and Oliver have confront several crises together , but none quite like this November ca n’t get here tight enough .