Marc Guggenheim Addresses Why “Crisis on Earth-X” Not Released as “Movie”

Fans of The CW’s epic “Crisis on Earth-X” may have been hoping the four-hour Arrowverse crossover event would be released all together as a seamless movie, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow executive producer posted on Twitter Friday that, while he tried to get the crossover released together as one movie, there was one thing that prevented it.

“I tried to get this released as a single, seamless — no act breaks — “movie.” Maybe even with new material. What stopped us? Ironically, union rules regarding credit,” Guggenheim wrote.

This will no doubt disappoint fans who had been hoping that the crossover would be released separately from the individual releases of Supergirl, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow‘s regular season DVDs. Unlike last year’s “Invasion!” crossover, “Crisis on Earth-X” functioned more as a four-part movie with the story beginning on Supergirl with the wedding of Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris (Candice Patton) being crashed by the decidedly unwelcome Nazi villains from Earth-X and moving with no real interruption — save for the act breaks Guggenheim mentioned and one night between halves — until its conclusion with the heroes successfully stopping the Nazi invasion during Arrow.

The crossover brought season-high ratings to The CW’s DC shows and was widely praised by fans and critics alike, spawning multiple think pieces discussing how “Crisis” was a more entertaining DC superhero team-up than Justice League, which hit theaters just before “Crisis” debuted. The crossover also set up for the CW Seed animated series Freedom Fighters: The Ray, which is centered around The Ray (Russel Tovey) who helped the Arrowverse heroes escape Earth-X as well as lead to a major status quo change for Legends of Tomorrow with the death of Martin Stein (Victor Garber) as well as the eventual departure of Jax Jackson (Franz Drameh).

However, while a movie-style edit of “Crisis on Earth-X” isn’t happening, fans wanting to enjoy the crossover without having to wait for the shows current seasons to be released do have options. Vudu is currently offering a “Crisis on Earth-X” Digital Bundle at $9.99 — a 20% discount from buying the individual episodes. The episodes are also currently streaming on The CW’s website.

The Arrowverse officially returns from winter hiatus on Monday, January 15 with a new episode of Supergirl at 8/7c. The Flash will follow on Tuesday, January 16 at 8/7c with the series premiere of Black Lightning at 9/8c. Arrow returns Thursday, January 18 at 9/8c. Legends of Tomorrow will return in Supergirl‘s timeslot in February.