How the Arrowverse Has Been Hinting at "Crisis on Infinite Earths"

'The Flash' Pilot Episode

The very first hint that "Crisis" was coming came at the end of the very first episode of The Flash. At the end of the pilot, Harrison Wells -- who we now know was really Eobard Thawne -- pulled up a hologram of a Central City newspaper from April 25, 2024 which announced that Flash had vanished in crisis. While text of that story is pretty much impossible to read, the headline of another story on the page is clear: "Red Skies Vanish".

This is a pretty overt reference to 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths, in which Barry Allen sacrificed his life to save the DC Universe from a massive antimatter cannon fired at the core of the matter universe by the Anti-Monitor. He remained dead for 20 years -- nearly an unthinkable amount of time, considering it's comics -- before returning in Final Crisis.

'Supergirl's Season 2 Premiere

When Supergirl made the jump from CBS to The CW for its second season, the preview also gave fans a tease of "Crisis". In that preview there was a moment in which Earth-38's Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) was seen holding a limp Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) in his arms. The shot is one instantly recognizable for DC Comics fans as it is taken from one of the most iconic covers in DC Comics history -- the issue in which Supergirl died battling the Anti-Monitor in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

'Supergirl's Legion of Superheroes

This one might be a little bit of a stretch as it relies heavily on fan theory and speculation, but we're including here just the same. Last season on Supergirl, the Legion of Superheroes made their debut and revealed an extinction-level event at some point in the future that wipes out most of the historical record for Earth-38.

Crisis on Infinite Earths, which literally wiped out entire worlds, could very well be that extinction-level event. What makes this interesting is that travelling back in time brings the Legion to an Earth on which it doesn't actually exist (if Earth-38 disappeared/was merged, it would be gone and therefore, the Legion would have been created on a different Earth entirely). It's something that could explain why Nora is revealed on The Flash to be a future memer of the Legion.

'The Flash' Season 5 Premiere

Remember that future newspaper on The Flash? Well, the Season 5 premiere gave fans a look at another future newspaper -- one 25 years after the original crisis event and the details about the rememberance ceremony in Central City 2049 revealed a lot of information about "Crisis on Infinite Earths".

It was a beautiful spring day in Central City. Not so different from that morning years ago when the clear blue sky turned crimson red, and the Scarlet Speedster vanished in a crisis. Thousands gathered here at the Flash Museum to commemorate that day's quarter century anniversary. Names were read of the other victims of the attack, and Governor Singh gave remarks on the Flash's enduring legacy.

The details of Flash's disappearance remain murky. A 2026 Congressional Commission repeated the Citizen's initial reporting. Hours after the sky turned red, the Flash and his allies fought the Reverse Flash. The ensuing street battle caused the most destruction this city has ever seen. It was not until the Flash and Reverse Flash disappeared in an explosion of light that the chaos ceased.

But in the years following the crisis, accounts only grew more contradictory. Some eyewitnesses remember dozens of other heroes present, including Green Arrow, Batwoman, and Elongated Man. Others remember heroes thought lost in time, like The Atom, or from other worlds, like Supergirl. Some even contend they saw Reverse Flash leading an army of "shadow demons."

Scientists at Ivy University's Memory Institute chalk up those…

Research has focused on Roger Hayden, a.k.a. Psycho Pirate, who claims to remember the night's events.

He said upon his arrest, "Worlds lived, worlds died. Nothing will ever be the same."

And nothing ever was. Staring at the golden statue of The Flash, this reporter remembers the words of Former Police Chief Joe West, "We don't have the details…"

Nora

Here's another hint that we're including despite being somewhat generic, but Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy) herself is something of clue about "Crisis". Not ony did she reveal the second future newspaper to Barry, she also was revealed to be working with Eobard Thawne in the future. And considering that he appears to be locked up somewhere, it will be interesting to see what role the two play as all roads point to the end of the Arrowverse as we know it.

Earth-90 Flash

The full trailer for "Elseworlds" gave fans another huge clue about the upcoming "Crisis on I Infinite Earths" but simply directly saying it.

In the trailer we saw quite a few things that we already knew about for "Elseworlds". Barry and Oliver have been body swapped, reality is out of whack, The Monitor is around, there's a look at Superman in the black suit, and we meet Batwoman for the first time. Those are all exciting things, but it's what John Wesley Shipp's Earth-90 Flash says that is the game-changer: "A crisis is coming."

That's right. He said "crisis". He wasn't kidding, after all, his Earth, Earth-90, was wiped out already.

The Monitor

The very existence of The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) in "Elseworlds" was a big red flag about "Crisis", but he also confirmed it by revealing that something far worse was coming -- and he was looking for a world strong enough to fight back.

In comics, The Monitor was one of two ageless beings (the other being the Anti-Monitor) who personified and wielded the energies of the matter and anti-matter universes. Crisis on Infinite Earths dealt with the idea that since the matter universe had been split into an infinite multiverse, each of the individual universes was weaker, leaving them more vulnerable to attack by the Anti-Monitor than they otherwise would have been. At the end of the story, most of the universes were destroyed and the universe that remained was DC's only one, with all of its history merged into one, for about twenty years until the next set of Crises.

Psycho-Pirate

He didn't have a huge role in "Elseworlds" but the debut of Roger Hayden/Psycho-Pirate was a major clue about "Crisis", who had previously been referenced in The Flash's second future newspaper.

The presence of Hayden is another bit of information to suggest that the Arrowverse is gearing up for a version of Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC's biggest and most impactful crossover of all time. That storyline featured The Monitor and The Anti-Monitor, cosmic twins who oversaw the matter and anti-matter universes at the beginning of time. Ultimately the Anti-Monitor destroyed most of DC's multiverse, leading to all of the company's various timelines being merged into a single universe and a single continuity. That status quo remained in place, with the occasional tweak, for about twenty years.

The Flash cited the Crisis in its series premiere, with a newspaper from the future appearing that said Barry would vanish, along with red skies that had been looming over Central City, at the end of a "Crisis." In this season's premiere, the future was changed somewhat, along with the newspaper article, which now mentioned Hayden/Psycho-Pirate (Bob Frazer).

"Research has focused on Roger Hayden, a.k.a. Psycho Pirate, who claims to remember the night's events," the article reads in its current state. "He said upon his arrest, 'Worlds lived, worlds died. Nothing will ever be the same.'"

That last bit, "Worlds will live, worlds will die, and the DC Universe will ever be the same," was the original marketing tagline for Crisis on Infinite Earths in the comics. He was also speaking them at the close of "Elseworlds".