Smallville's Tom Welling Cast in Crisis on Infinite Earths

In the wee hours of last night/this morning, former Arrow and DC's Legends of Tomorrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim -- who serves as a consulting producer to the Arrowverse and oversees the annual crossover events for The CW -- promised some exciting news was coming about "Crisis on Infinite Earths" today. And now, he has delivered. In a crossover event that has already seen a number of exciting casting announcements that draw from the history of DC's movies and TV series past and present, another player has entered into the increasingly-ambitious, five-part storyline. And, as with Black Lightning, Kingdom Come Superman, Bruce Wayne, and others, fans are going to be pretty happy to hear about it.

After months of rumors and fan speculation, The CW has cast Smallville veteran Tom Welling in "Crisis on Infinite Earths." This marks the third actor who played Clark Kent/Superman before coming to the Crisis (following Supergirl's Tyler Hoechlin and Superman Returns star Brandon Routh). During an interview with ComicBook.com at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Guggenheim admitted that if the hand of God were to come down and grant them one wish for "Crisis," he would have asked for Christopher Reeve. It seems instead of getting the original, they are instead getting as many of his successors as he can. Can Dean Cain be far behind?!

According to The CW, Welling will reprise his role as Clark Kent and we'll reveal what happened to the character almost ten years after Smallville.

"For eight years, Arrow has stood on the shoulders of Smallville," Guggenheim said. "Simply put, there would be no Arrow, and no Arrowverse, without it. So when we first started talking about Crisis on Infinite Earths, our first, second and third priorities were getting Tom to reprise his iconic role as Clark Kent. To say that we're thrilled would be a Superman-sized understatement."

Plot details for The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" -- which is being showrun by Guggenheim -- are still fairly sketchy, outside of the fact that Oliver Queen and Barry Allen have both been prophesied to die. Still, it is likely we will start to get more details -- especially as casting is concerned -- as we draw closer to the crossover going into production, which is likely to happen in October.

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. Are you excited for the Crisis? Chime in below or tweet your thoughts to @russburlingame.