Titans Star Alan Ritchson Says He Was Asked To Play Smallville's Aquaman in Crisis on Infinite Earths
The CW's 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' crossover will bring in actors who have played DC heroes on [...]
The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover will bring in actors who have played DC heroes on the big screen and small, on The CW and elsewhere. Characters from Smallville, Birds of Prey, Superman Returns, the original version of The Flash, and more will come together with heroes from Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and Black Lightning to face an uncertain future for the multiverse. And as a result of all this, ever since the scope of "Crisis" began to become clear, fans have asked anybody who has ever worked with DC whether they might return for quick appearance in the crossover.
So it is that Collider posed the question to Titans star Alan Ritchson -- not about his current role as Hawk on the DC Universe drama, but about his urn as Arthur Curry/Aquaman on Smallville. And while it isn't going to actually happen, apparently the question did come up.
"They did reach out to me," Ritchson said in an interview. "We tried to work it out. We were shooting and it was a very difficult schedule for us. We were shooting three episodes at once all the time. I would have had to leave the country and come back in to get a permit specifically for that show. I did want to participate. We tried to work it out. I'm happy that everybody is getting to come back. I'm especially happy for the fans. That's why we do this. Those shows are like a bonanza for the fans. I wish I could have been a part of it."
He isn't the only one who couldn't make it to the party, even after being asked; Krypton star Cameron Cuffe had scheduling issues, while Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum was not interested in participating under the terms the network offered.
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" has loomed over the Arrowverse for years. The series premiere of The Flash featured an allusion to the hero disappearing amid red skies in the year 2024. During the original comics event, red skies were a sign of doom to come to a world during the Crisis. At the end of last season, a couple of things happened: The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett), who had appeared in "Elseworlds," reappeared and revealed that Oliver Queen was destined to die in the Crisis...and the future newspaper at STAR Labs rolled back the expected date of the Crisis from 2024 to 2019.
In the comics, Crisis on Infinite Earths centered on a battle between the combined superheroes (and even some villains) of the DC multiverse and an immortal, cosmic threat known as the Anti-Monitor. Like The Monitor, the Anti-Monitor will be played by LaMonica Garrett in the Arrowverse. As the Anti-Monitor destroys realities, he replaces their positive matter energy with antimatter, growing his own power and sphere of influence. He was eventually stopped by the sacrifices of several heroes, including The Flash and Supergirl, as well as the merging of multiple universes to save reality by becoming a single, unified timeline. Fans have long wondered whether the events of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" might bring Supergirl and even Black Lightning to Earth-1, where the rest of the series take place. The crossover will also feature guest appearances by Tom Welling as Clark Kent, Erica Durance as Lois Lane, John Wesley Shipp as the Flash of Earth-90, Johnathon Schaech as Jonah Hex, Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne, and Ashley Scott as The Huntress.
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" kicks off on Sunday, December 8 on Supergirl, runs through a Monday episode of Batwoman and that Tuesday's episode of The Flash. That will be the midseason cliffhanger, as the shows go on hiatus for the holidays and return on January 14 to finish out the event with the midseason premiere of Arrow and a "special episode" of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, which launches as a midseason series this year and so will not have an episode on the air before the Crisis.