Crisis on Infinite Earths: Is Supergirl's Earth Really Gone?

Following the first hour of the five-part "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, which began last month on The CW and concludes next Tuesday with back-to-back episodes of Arrow and DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Earth-38 -- the world on which Supergirl takes place -- was wiped out by an antimatter wave, along with the rest of its universe. About half of its population managed to escape on alien ships bound for Earth-1, but that still left billions dead on earth and presumably far more throughout the universe, including Supergirl's mother Alura, who had been living on the remote Kryptonian colony of Argo City.

..Right? We all saw it, so clearly that has to be the case. And yet, we know that not all of the worlds or characters we saw die with our own eyes will remain dead and gone in the post-"Crisis" Arrowverse. So what can we expect for Supergirl -- and is Earth-38 really gone?

Somebody put the question to "Crisis" architect Marc Guggenheim on Twitter last week, noting that the comic book tie-in -- which is canonical to the TV series -- seemingly takes place after Oliver Queen has died (at the end of hour one), but references Earth-38 as not having yet been destroyed. Guggenheim answered, somewhat cryptically, that "Issue 2 contains your answer."

It already seems pretty likely that the first issue of the comic is not necessarily any more binding than the first half of the TV series, with the apparent death of Wally West coming ahead of the character's planned return to The Flash later this season. But keeping whole worlds alive that we thought were gone is a harder sell, right?

...Right?

In the comics, The Monitor actually did exactly that as a kind of Hail Mary throw in case the good guys lost and existence was eradicated. In the comics, as in the TV series, that happened, shortly after the death of The Monitor, but a group of heroes was gathered to make a last stand against the Anti-Monitor. After his death, his energies -- pure matter energy -- dispersed and became a kind of haven for five remaining Earths that he kept hidden. These worlds would ultimately be consolidated and serve as the rebirth point of the multiverse as a single universe with a continuity that shared elements of the five previous worlds.

In the context of The CW's TV shows, it's unlikely that "Crisis on Infinite Earths" will fully get rid of the multiverse. Whereas the comic book version of the story took place in a world where writer Marv Wolfman (and some people in DC editorial) thought the multiverse had essentially outlived its usefulness, that is not the case on TV, where fans and creatives both seem to enjoy it. A single world would also create a situation where things like Smallville, the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, and Tim Burton Batman movies would have to be "folded into" that Earth in order to preserve them in some form.

Still, the broad strokes of The Monitor's plan have remained in place on the TV version so far, and likely will for the remainder of the crossover -- which brings us back to the original question: is Supergirl's world really gone? Since the start of the crossover, she has been determined to revive her universe, and Guggenheim's cryptic tease could certainly be taken to mean that there is more story to tell in terms of the fate of Earth-38. Even if it has been "saved," though, the question may shift from whether it is dead, to whether it can plausibly remain independent of Earth-1 if The Monitor's plan is to succeed.

Whatever the case, it will be interesting to see what happens going forward on Supergirl. One way or another, the Crisis will have left a significant mark on the show, and more than perhaps any other (except maybe Black Lightning if that show really does get folded into Earth-1 as well, as some rumors have held), it will be a world dramatically changed by the presence of dozens of high-profile metahumans.

The "Crisis" event brings together the heroes from multiple Earths to battle against the Anti-Monitor (LaMonica Garrett), a godlike villain who threatens to destroy all reality. In the comics, the story ended with the deaths of The Flash and Supergirl, and the destruction of DC's multiverse, leading to a single Earth with a complex history packed with hundreds of heroes. The battle brings together together characters from all six of the current DC Comics adaptations on The CW (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and Black Lightning), along with characters and actors from Titans, the 1990 version of The Flash, the short-lived Birds of Prey, Smallville, Superman Returns, Tim Burton's Batman, and the iconic 1966 Batman series.

The first three episodes are available now, for free, on The CW app and CW Seed. "Crisis on Infinite Earths" will conclude on January 14.