How Crisis on Infinite Earths Ended Up Using Footage From the Green Lantern Movie

In the final moments of The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event, as fans were given glimpses of the newly-reborn multiverse, the first confirmation came that the Green Lantern Corps exists in the multiverse that includes The CW's DC shows. A sweeping shot of Oa, the homeworld of the Guardians of the Universe and the base of operations of the Green Lantern Corps, was one of the final shots in the series (designated as the universe that housed Earth-12). The footage itself came from the 2011 Green Lantern movie, which featured Arrow co-creators Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim as credited screenwriters.

The film has never been a huge fan favorite, and its modest box office and poor reviews were nothing compared to the constant barrage of jokes from star Ryan Reynolds, whose Deadpool 2 had a post-credits scene that included Deadpool traveling back in time and murdering Reynolds before he could make the movie. Nevertheless, it was exciting for fans to get to see the Green Lanterns acknowledged at all, especially with Berlanti developing an upcoming Green Lantern TV series for HBO Max, AT&T/Time Warner's new streaming service.

"There were some Easter eggs and cameos that just like fell into our lap, and then there were other ones where it was months of diplomacy on a variety of different fronts," Guggenheim told ComicBook.com. "I would say the Green Lantern footage...it fell somewhere in the middle. And that was a one where it was like, it's in, it's out, it's in, it's out. That was definitely sort of an emotional roller coaster one, but it all came together, which was great. I have to say, there were people like Jim Lee and Dan Evans of DC, who were very much in favor of it. I think that helped put it over the finish line."

Lee was also key to bringing Ezra Miller, who played The Flash in the Justice League movie, in for a cameo appearance that managed to shock everyone.

The Crisis brought together heroes from various eras of DC's TV and film adaptations, including Brandon Routh's Superman (originally seen in Superman Returns), Burt Ward's Dick Grayson (originally seen in the 1966 Batman series), Tom Welling's Clark Kent (originally seen in Smallville), Tom Ellis's Lucifer Morningstar (currently appearing in Lucifer), and Ezra Miller's version of The Flash, who first appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and has his own solo movie coming up from the director of IT.

Fans can get caught up by watching all five parts of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover on The CW's website or app now, or buying them through video on demand platforms. The post-"Crisis" Arrowverse begins this weekend with new episodes of Batwoman and Supergirl before Arrow and Black Lightning return next week.