Crisis On Infinite Earths Producer Explains Why Stephen Amell's Face Was Initially Barred From Main Title Card

When The CW first unveiled the official logo for their "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, fans were quick to notice that while Caity Lotz, Ruby Rose, Melissa Benoist, and Grant Gustin's faces were featured in the image (along with a shot of LaMonica Garrett as The Monitor), Arrow star Stephen Amell was absent. Almost immediately some fans responded with theories as to what, if anything, it meant for the story, while others claimed it was disrespectful to Amell, whose series had launched the shared universe that the shows comprising "Crisis" all take place in. Executive producer Marc Guggenheim promised that was not the case, but gave no details at the time.

Shortly thereafter, the logo was updated, and Amell's face included (rather than the Arrow logo). Most fans seemed to have forgotten about the incident, which was a blip on the radar of all the hundreds of stories that came out of "Crisis." But today, somebody remembered it and asked Guggenheim what had happened.

"At first I was told only actors appearing in all five hours could be in the main title card," Guggenheim explained on Twitter. "Stephen, as you now know, wasn't in Hour Five (a fact I obviously couldn't spoil). Then the legal eagles figured out a workaround. Even I don't fully understand it all, but I'm glad they did."

Fans in the comments were mostly understanding and glad that it had been worked out, with a handful of people expressing disbelief or frustration that the issue had come up to start with. A number of people asked whether Oliver's voiceover at the end of the final episode counted as an "appearance," which Guggenheim has not yet responded to, but may have been part of the key to resolving the issue. While Guggenheim was a trial lawyer prior to his work in television, he joked that "labor law was never my specialty."

The issue may have been raised as a result of the decision to treat the crossover events as their own separate "shows," with Guggenheim listed as an executive producer rather than his usual Arrowverse role of consulting producer (he stepped down as executive producer and showrunner of Arrow and DC's Legends of Tomorrow a couple of years ago). Doing so might (or might not) help Warner Bros. Home Entertainment navigate the tricky issues raised by Batwoman having a different distributor than the other shows internationally.

The Crisis brought together heroes from various eras of DC's TV and film adaptations, including Brandon Routh's Superman (originally seen in Superman Returns), Burt Ward's Dick Grayson (originally seen in the 1966 Batman series), Tom Welling's Clark Kent (originally seen in Smallville), Tom Ellis's Lucifer Morningstar (currently appearing in Lucifer), and Ezra Miller's version of The Flash, who first appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and has his own solo movie coming up from the director of IT.

Fans can get caught up by watching all five parts of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover on The CW's website or app now, or buying them through video on demand platforms. The post-"Crisis" Arrowverse begins this weekend with new episodes of Batwoman and Supergirl before Arrow and Black Lightning return next week.

What did you think of The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths?" Let us know in the comments below or tweet at @russburlingame with your thoughts!