Crisis on Infinite Earths’ The Monitor Actor Cheats to Get an Edge

LaMonica Garrett, who plays The Monitor and the Anti-Monitor in the upcoming “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event on The CW, is prepping for the job in the most predictable way possible: by re-reading Crisis on Infinite Earths (the graphic novel). The rub? He calls it “cheating” — possibly because he is brushing up on the story while in costume as The Monitor. After all, giving one of his two personalities the end of the story and not the other one isn’t exactly fair in the traditional sense of the word. Of course, since the Anti-Monitor wants to annihilate all of existence and end not just Arrow but all five of the Arrowverse shows, we’re going to let Garrett have this one.

The image of Garrett in his costume — one of the most comics-accurate suits the arrowverse has ever put together — while reading Crisis is a cool and kind of trippy visual. You can check it out below, and as you can imagine Garrett is not the only person cracking wise about the image.

In the comments below Garrett’s tweet, Crisis on Infinite Earths comic book writer Marv Wolfman, who will co-write part of the crossover this season, expressed approval of the choice of reading material. Of course, there’s a 50/50 chance that the copy of Crisis on Infinite Earths Garrett is holding is actually signed by the comics legend. During his visit to the ComicBook.com video suite at Comic Con International in San Diego this summer, Garrett told me that he had been carrying around just one comic all week: a copy of Crisis on Infinite Earths that he had hoped to get Wolfman to sign for him.

He almost had a chance the night before when, at the Warner Bros. party, the two men met for the first time in what was, admittedly, a highlight of Comic Con for the hapless photographer below…

In the comics, Crisis on Infinite Earths centered on a battle between the combined superheroes (and even some villains) of the DC multiverse and an immortal, cosmic threat known as the Anti-Monitor. Like The Monitor, the Anti-Monitor will be played by LaMonica Garrett in the Arrowverse. As the Anti-Monitor destroys realities, he replaces their positive matter energy with antimatter, growing his own power and sphere of influence. He was eventually stopped by the sacrifices of several heroes, including The Flash and Supergirl, as well as the merging of multiple universes to save reality by becoming a single, unified timeline. Fans have long wondered whether the events of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” might bring Supergirl and even Black Lightning to Earth-1, where the rest of the series take place. The crossover will also feature guest appearances by Johnathon Schaech as Jonah Hex, Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne, and Brandon Routh as Superman.

“Crisis on Infinite Earths” will air on The CW this winter, taking place on five episodes of TV over two quarters — one each of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman. Black Lightning will return for its third season on October 21, 2019 on The CW. Are you excited for the Crisis? Chime in below or tweet your thoughts to @russburlingame.