Has the Arrowverse Been Hinting at "Elseworlds" For Years?

The CW's "Elseworlds" crossover kicks off on The Flash and brings the network's interconnected universe of DC Comics-inspired shows just a bit closer to an adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earth and while Crisis has been teased for a long time, "Elseworlds" may have been as well.

In a teaser scene aired at the end of last week's Supergirl, Arrow, and The Flash fans were introduced to Earth-90, but this new-to-fans corner of the Multiverse wasn't exactly a happy and thriving world. Instead, the new Earth's landscape was devastated with pockets of fire suggesting some sort of horrific global catastrophe. The idea that something terrible had happened there was reinforced they the bodies of many dead heroes strewn across the scene. John Wesley Shipp's Flash appears to be the lone survivor when he desperately tries to reach a mysterious book. Instead, The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) picks up the tome, declaring that they all must perish for their failure. Flash manages to take off running and the scene ends without revealing the final fate of Earth-90, but it's not hard to imagine its death giving the Arrowverse another "dead Earth".

That's right. Earth-90 wouldn't be the only so-called dead Earth. As seen in The Flash's fourth season -- or rather, mentioned since we don't actually go there -- Earth-15 is also a dead earth. In the episode "The Trial of The Flash", Cisco (Carlos Valdes) vibes all of the radiation created by Neil Boorman/Fallout to Earth-15, telling Team Flash that it was safe to do that because it is a dead earth -- the fallout can't hurt anyone there. At the time, the mention of a dead Earth was just an interesting addition to the growing Multiverse but add in the introduction of The Monitor and a dying Earth-90, it's possible that Earth-15 could have been a hint towards "Elseworlds" -- and it's Garrett's own comments that might support that idea.

In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Garrett spoke about his eagerly-anticipated character and revealed that Earth-90 isn't the first Earth The Monitor has destroyed. There have been others.

"I think when you do something day in and day out, like say you have a job, and you've been at the same cubicle for the past five, 10 years...you show up, and there's nothing new that really sparks your attention. You know what the day is gonna bring you. You know at 10 o'clock they're gonna come ask where these reports are. You check in and you check out," Garrett said. "With The Monitor, he's been going to different Earths. He's been doing this, you know, they showed the teaser with Earth-90, that's not his first place he's visited. He's been doing this for countless years. So to him, it's just another day, just another universe, just another Earth, you know? But along the way of the crossover, things happen that haven't happened in past events where he's been on different Earths and things didn't go right for the people of that Earth. And I think through the course of the crossover, you'll see a change in his energy, and his interaction with the superheroes. But for the beginning part of it, he's just like, you know, it's just another day at the office. I'm pretty sure everything I think that's gonna happen is gonna happen, until it doesn't. And that's where the shift changes."

In comics, Earth-15 is destroyed by Superboy Prime from Earth-33 in Countdown to Final Crisis #24 but if the Arrowverse's Earth-15 was destroyed by The Monitor, it could mean that the series has been setting up for "Elseworlds" for quite some time. It's also worth noting that it's not like The Monitor isn't familiar with Superboy Prime in comics, either. Both characters had important roles in comics' Crisis on Infinite Earths and if one theory about the black suited Superman in "Elseworlds" teased in photos and trailers for the event, we may see some of that on The CW as well.

What do you think? Is The Monitor behind the death of Earth-15? Has The CW been building to "Elseworlds" for a long time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

The Arrowverse crossover event, "Elseworlds", will begin on with The Flash in a temporary time slot on Sunday, December 9th and continue with Arrow on Monday, December 10th before concluding with Supergirl Tuesday, December 11th.