It’s been a couple of weeks since the third hour of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” aired on The CW, but with a few weeks left to go before we get the conclusion of the epic crossover event we’re still processing. After all, the was a lot packed into those first three hours and we don’t just mean in terms of story. Thus far, “Crisis” has been full of all sorts of incredible Easter eggs, references, and other little winks and nods to various facets of the DC Universe in all its forms, be it television, movies, or comics.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Perhaps the most exciting of all of those references, though, has been the cameos. “Crisis” really pulled out all of the stops when it came to the appearances of familiar faces from across the DC Universe. While this is mostly the case when it comes to some great actor cameos, there were also some fantastic character moments as well where the actor may not have been a completely familiar face, but the character certainly was.
While there are still two hours left of “Crisis” coming in January and with it likely more fun cameo appearances, we’ve rounded up all of the cameo appearances we could find thus far. From nods to the 1989 Batman movie to John Wesley Shipp’s heartbreaking return as The Flash of Earth-90, here are the cameos thus far in “Crisis on Infinite Earths”.
“Crisis on Infinite Earths” is currently on a midseason break. The event will conclude on Tuesday, January 14th, with new episodes of Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.
Batman: Alexander Knox (Robert Wuhl)
Robert Wuhl reprised his memorable turn as Alexander Knox, the Gotham City journalist whose award-winning photographer friend Vicki Vale ended up as Batman’s love interest in the 1989 Batman film by Tim Burton. While he was not technically named, the fact that he wore similar wardrobe, lived on “Earth-89,” and the Burton music swelled as he appeared made it pretty obvious.
Titans: Robin (Curran Walters) and Hawk (Alan Ritchson)
The second Earth destroyed was Earth-9, which featured several faces familiar to those who watch the DC Universe streaming app. Titans‘ Hank Hall/Hawk (Alan Ritchson) and Jason Todd/Robin (Curran Walters) could all be seen, before their Earth appeared to get swallowed up by anti-matter.
Titans has aired on DC Universe since last year, and recently wrapped up its second season. While the idea of their Earth being destroyed in “Crisis” is certainly bittersweet, the fact that they’re already renewed for a third season might still give fans hope.
Batman ’66: Robin (Burt Ward)
“Holy crimson skies of death!” Also appearing in that opening destructive montage is none other than an older Dick Grayson/Robin (Burt Ward) on Earth-66. Ward played Robin in the 1960s Batman TV show, as the pint-sized foil to Adam West’s Batman. In recent years, Ward has reprised his role as The Boy Wonder across several animated properties as well.
Supergirl: Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch)
Less a cameo and more of a guest appearance as they do factor into the overall “Crisis” story more significantly, Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch reprise their roles as Earth-38’s Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane. They’re first seen enjoying quiet family life on Argo…at least until the last remaining part of Krypton is destroyed by an anti-matter wave with the family (including their infant son) escaping at the last moment — the elder Kents thanks to Harbinger and young Jonathan thanks to being sent off to Earth in a Kryptonian pod.
Supergirl: Alura Zor-El (Erica Durance)
Another cameo with a familiar face for Arrowverse fans, Erica Durance reprised her role as Kara’s (Melissa Benoist) mother, Alura Zor-El. She guides the Kents to the escape pod on Argo as the anti-matter wave approaches and helps them get Jonathan to safety. Unfortunately, Alura Zor-El does not survive.
The Trivia Host (Griffin Newman)
Another unexpected cameo came during the Legends’ first appearance in the crossover, which saw them participating in a Trivia Night on Earth-1’s Star City. The emcee, who later got annoyed at Harbinger crashing the event, was played by fan-favorite actor Griffin Newman.
Newman is best known for playing Arthur Everest on Amazon’s The Tick, and also has roles on Vinyl, Search Party, and Our Cartoon President.
The Doomsayer (Wil Wheaton)
Shortly after the “red skies” montage, a man was standing in the streets of National City holding a sign that says “Prepare to meet thy doom, the end of the world is nigh”, and monologuing about how even Supergirl can’t save them. The man was played by none other than Wil Wheaton, who most famously played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Wheaton also has some pre-existing ties to the DC universe, including voicing Aqualad on Teen Titans and Teen Titans GO!, Cosmic Boy in the 2006-2008 Legion of Super-Heroes series, and Ted Kord/Blue Beetle in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Smallville: Clark Kent (Tom Welling) & Lois Lane (Erica Durance)
In what might have been one of the most anticipated cameo’s in “Crisis”, Tom Welling and Erica Durance both reprised their Smallville roles of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. The couple appeared on Earth-167 and it was revealed when Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) showed up to kill Clark that he had given up his powers in order to be a family man. He and Lois are happily married with daughters, living the quiet life on the Kent farm.
Bruce Wayne of Earth-99 (Kevin Conroy)
Earth-99, the home of Kevin Conroy’s aging and dark Batman, is named for the year 1999, when Batman Beyond first premiered. In that show, Conroy played an older Bruce Wayne (actually much older than this one), who took a new young man under his wing to make sure that there would always be a Batman. Kevin Conroy, who played the Earth-99 Bruce Wayne, has been voicing Batman in animated projects since Batman: The Animated Series. After more than a quarter-century, this is his first time playing the character in live-action.
Legends of Tomorrow: Leonard the AI (Wentworth Miller)
Here’s a fun one: during the second hour of “Crisis” Wentworth Miller appears (sort of): he provides the voice of “Leonard,” the AI voice of a Waverider from an alternate Earth. In that world, where the Legends are retired, Mick Rory live on The Waverider, the place a mess of beer cans and we assume stolen treasures from all throughout history. Miller starred as Snart/Captain Cold on Seasons 1-4 of The Flash, before moving over to DC’s Legends of Tomorrow for Season2 1-3.
Superman of Earth-96 (Brandon Routh)
Earth-96, the home of the Brandon Routh Superman, is likely given that distinction becasue of the publishing date for Kingdom Come, the series that gives us that version of the costume.
For Routh, who previously played Superman in Superman Returns and currently plays Ray Palmer on Legends of Tomorrow, getting to play the role again offered a sense of closure.
“I approached it as if it was the final time. It was important for me,” Routh explained. “That’s one of the things I had to get off the phone with Marc [Guggenheim] and consider and think about. Because if I continued to leave the door open and keep wanting more, then I was never going to be fulfilled, and that wasn’t a place where I wanted to leave things. So I approached this as, no matter how much screen time I had or whatever story this ends up being, I’m grateful to have had this opportunity and I’m going to be okay with whatever this is.”
“That’s how I approached it,” Routh continued. “Just being grateful for the opportunity. Putting it all out there and being okay with hanging up the cape after that. And I’m grateful for that because that’s how I feel about it. I feel that the door that was open, the unresolved stuff after Superman Returns, is resolved and the door is closed, but…. if the door opened again, I’m open to it. I’m good, I’m at peace with it, but I am still excited to play the character if another opportunity that is right presents itself.”
Jonah Hex (Jonathan Schaech)
The Jonah Hex of Earth-18 is still played by Johnathon Schaech, the same actor who played the Earth-1 Jonah on several episodes of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Here, we see a version of him who hasn’t yet got his scars, but he gets a version of them after a fight with Green Arrow (Mia) and Sara Lance.
Black Lightning (Cress Williams)
Welcome to the Arrowverse, Black Lightning. Freeland’s hero, played by Cress Williams, makes the jump to Earth-1 as his own world is destroyed (something seen in the midseason finale of Black Lightning). Despite his great loss, he is able to aid the heroes in destroying the Anti-Monitor’s anti-matter canon.
“I hope it’s not a one-off thing,” Williams said. “[Actors] wanted to come to Freeland, and I definitely want to come back to them.”
Birds of Prey: The Huntress (Ashley Scott)
The third hour of “Crisis” opened with a trip to Earth-203, where yet another corner of the multiverse was being destroyed. Fans briefly got to see Helena Kyle/Huntress (Ashley Scott), who was running across a rooftop just as red skies destroyed New Gotham. Helena then radioed in to a voice over the “comms” that was none other than Barbara Gordon/Oracle (Dina Meyer), before being destroyed in a wave of anti-matter.
For the uninitiated, Birds of Prey aired from 2002 to 2003 on The WB Network (The CW’s former name), and provided a pretty unique adaptation of the eponymous team. The series saw Huntress and Oracle trying to protect New Gotham City in Batman’s absence, only for them to run into a teenage runaway named Dinah Redmond Lance (Rachel Skarsten). Together, the trio came to terms with their relationship to superheroics, and fought against the vengeful Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Mia Sara).
Ryan Choi (Osric Chau)
Ryan Choi made his Arrowverse debut as the Paragon of Humanity. It’s a name The Flash fans have heard before as the character was mentioned as a scientist in the future who engineered Barry Allen’s Flash ring and costume. In comics, Ryan was created by Gail Simone and Grant Morrison and first appeared in DCU: Brave New World #1. He’s the longtime protege of Ray Palmer and, after Palmer disappears, Ryan moves from Hong Kong to Ivy Town and takes over Ray’s place teaching at Ivy University. Once there, Ryan follows Ray’s clues and discovers a “bio-belt” and becomes the new Atom.
In the episode Choi isn’t the new Atom, but he’s definitely a big fan of Ray Palmer’s. He also requires a bit of convincing by Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) to come be part of the team who attempts to save the Multiverse
Jim Corrigan (Stephen Lobo)
Like Ryan Choi, this one is more a character cameo than an actor cameo. In the third hour, when Diggle, Mia, and Constantine go hunting for Oliver’s soul in Purgatory they are approached by Jim Corrigan, played by Stephen Lobo.
For fans of DC Comics, this is very exciting. In comics, Detective Jim Corrigan first debuted in More Fun Comics #52 in 1940. He becomes The Specter when, on his way to his engagement party, Corrigan is murdered, stuffed into a barrel of cement and thrown into the water. His spirit is refused entry into the afterlife and he’s sent back to Earth by an entity called “The Voice,” bonded with the “Spirit of Vengeance” with a mission to destroy evil. The character has undergone some revisions over the years, but what’s interesting about The Spectre in terms of the upcoming Crisis event is the comic book story the event is based upon, the Spectre fought the Anti-Monitor.
In the episode, when Jim Corrigan shows up and introduces the concept of The Spectre, Oliver is almost immediately transformed into a magical being of immense power, disappointing those who would hope to bring him back to life.
Lucifer: Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis)
Yes, Lucifer appears in “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” And yes, we mean Tom Ellis‘ Lucifer, the star of Netflix’s Lucifer. His Earth is designated as Earth-666 — fitting — and it’s where Mia (Katherine McNamara) and Constantine (Matt Ryan) and Diggle (David Ramsey) go to try to get an assist in how to retrieve Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) soul. Lucifer doesn’t give them a direct answer, but he does send them in the right direction: Oliver is in Purgatory and it looks like Lian Yu.
Ellis’ appearance tonight is a pretty big surprise for fans as, back in October, Ellis himself denied rumors that he would be appearing in the epic “Crisis” event, even going so far as to call it a “hard pass.”
“Right, OK, see… this is what happens. I go to Vancouver for the weekend to visit my friend for his birthday and now suddenly, I’m in a different show!” Ellis told ET’s Katie Krause, adding that an appearance by Lucifer Morningstar in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” was a “hard pass.”
Turns out it wasn’t such a hard pass after all.
The Flash of Earth-90 (John Wesley Shipp)
Sure, we knew that John Wesley Shipp was returning to the Arrowverse once again as Barry Allen/The Flash from Earth-90, but we didn’t know how until the dramatic third hour. While getting The Flash from the 1990 television series on screen one more time was a treat, it was a bittersweet one. It ends up being Earth-90 The Flash who dies in Crisis to save the Multiverse, with this version of Barry sacrificing himself instead of Earth-1’s Barry Allen.
Related Posts
-
The Green Witch's (Aubrey Plaza) true identity revealed: Rio is Death in the MCU
