“Crisis on Earth-X” had impeccable
synergy among characters, cool surprises, high stakes, heart-rending drama, humor in appropriate
amounts and right moments, tongue-in-cheek references (e.g. Earth-2 Wells
telling Supergirl to deal with a huge threat by flying “Up. Up.
And Away!”), and a good amount of thrilling, action-packed set pieces. It showed a giant teamup of superheroes going against Nazis, fascinating doppelgangers, a major character death, the return
of Flash’s greatest villain, the debut of a new DCW hero, Supergirl getting to
be a wedding singer, Green Arrow doing something Batmanly once again (i.e. harboring
a kryptonite arrow), letting Mick Rory be Mick Rory, the possible meeting of
Barry and a time-traveling descendant, a dogfight between two Waveriders, and much
more – everything to make the four-part event a superhero TV masterpiece!
Now, it’s not that I didn’t enjoy
Justice League. For all its flaws, I still did nonetheless. But I absolutely enjoyed “Crisis on Earth-X”
more (just as I enjoyed the very first Flash/Supergirl crossover more than Batman v Superman).
And why is this so? Well, first of all, it’s because the DCW Universe started small and took its time – basically similar to what the MCU has done and why it’s leaving the DCEU in the dust. Through the years since a show about a Batman/Robin Hood hybrid began, it patiently and steadily realized as much of the DC Comics Universe into live-action TV, and spin-off shows were made. Thus, when it decided to do a crossover, its characters and world were already well set up. But even then, it didn’t immediately do something grand. It started with something small – just the two main characters of its two shows then. And year after year afterwards, as the DCW continually expands, these annual crossover events become bigger and bigger, building the perfect environment that would allow them to comfortably make something as huge as “Crisis on Earth-X” year in, year out. The path to get here hasn’t always been smooth. It has its shares of pitfalls and bumps. But because it took its time, it has the opportunities to polish it up along the way.
And why is this so? Well, first of all, it’s because the DCW Universe started small and took its time – basically similar to what the MCU has done and why it’s leaving the DCEU in the dust. Through the years since a show about a Batman/Robin Hood hybrid began, it patiently and steadily realized as much of the DC Comics Universe into live-action TV, and spin-off shows were made. Thus, when it decided to do a crossover, its characters and world were already well set up. But even then, it didn’t immediately do something grand. It started with something small – just the two main characters of its two shows then. And year after year afterwards, as the DCW continually expands, these annual crossover events become bigger and bigger, building the perfect environment that would allow them to comfortably make something as huge as “Crisis on Earth-X” year in, year out. The path to get here hasn’t always been smooth. It has its shares of pitfalls and bumps. But because it took its time, it has the opportunities to polish it up along the way.
On the other hand, the DCEU lacks
patience. It immediately wants to have
the same success as the MCU. Thus, it
lacked a good build up, as well as the time to think things through and learn
from missteps. So when Justice League happened, it has all the
shortcomings resulting from being a rushed product. Moreover, since most of its characters were
introduced in the movie, the busy plot gave no room to thoroughly flesh them
out and understand what their deals are beyond the surface level. Meanwhile, since the DCW characters
have had the opportunity to be previously explored in the exclusive arcs of
their respective shows, there’s no need to explain connections, motivations,
and personalities. We understand what’s
going on with these characters, so we can just focus on how they will behave in
this particular story, recognize what they can and will add to it, and just
enjoy what’s unfolding scene to scene.
Secondly, it can be argued that
the Justice League has been
compromised by being worked on by two directors – Zack Snyder and Joss
Whedon. But that is simply a derivative
of a critical issue for the DCEU: it didn’t have someone that has a competent vision
for it. Meanwhile, the MCU has Kevin
Feige, and the DCW has Greg Berlanti.
The DCEU has no one.
Thirdly, it’s probably because
“Crisis on Earth-X” has the advantage of being told within four hours while Justice League only has two hours. Thus, there’s more time to make the story
gel. In addition, since it’s being shown
in TV, it can be said that it’s being held to a lesser set of standards than
something like Justice League, which
is intended for cinema. Audiences simply
evaluate TV and film differently as artforms due to matters of budget,
production context, technology, and creating an experience – and there’s higher
expectations on film in these regards.
For example, Justice League
may have better CGI and production value than “Crisis on Earth-X”, but the
latter is more joyful and gratifying to behold.
It’s because Justice League’s
visuals could have been much improved still, but what “Crisis on Earth-X” is
able to show on screen is utterly spectacular for a TV production.
Lastly, the team in “Crisis on
Earth-X” is more superior to Justice
League’s in both quantity and quality.
It’s a diverse ensemble of individuals having different personalities,
cultural and racial backgrounds, and worldviews. There’s a balance of male and female
characters. It’s made up of metahumans
and non-powered humans, costumed and non-costumed individuals, heroes and
anti-heroes. And again, this is possible because of the first point: the characters have had time to be established and explored beforehand.
That shot of them in the Waverider’s bridge (see the utmost top photo) and the one where they stood side by side about to face the Nazi army for the final battle (see the GIFs below) is honestly far more delightful than any scene in Justice League where Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg are together.
In the end, the DCEU is still very
much capable to right itself. At this
point, they should just accept that the MCU has them beat and start taking
notes of what their small screen counterpart is doing right. If they play it correctly, they may be able
to have a film that will give justice (pun intended) to its source material and
be as iconic as the Timmverse take.
But for now, “Crisis on Earth-X”
is arguably the greatest live-action DC showcase in both TV and film.
Miscellaneous musings:
- Yep. I called it. Alex and Sara hooked up.
- I first intended to make a list of my favorite moments. But it’s really hard to pick. The whole thing has been noteworthy moment after noteworthy moment. The first episode alone is already packed with elating sequences.
- What does Reverse Flash mean when he said he had fought Superman? Is there an Earth-1 Superman? Or did he fight Earth-X’s version of him? Will he sometime go to Supegirl’s universe?
- I wish the Council of Wells was involved in the plot somehow.
- Dark Arrow, i.e. Earth-X Oliver Queen, being revealed to be the Fuhrer was kind of a letdown. Considering the magnitude of the surprises delivered prior to it – Earth-X Tommy Merlyn was under the Prometheus mask, Earth-X Oliver and Kara were married, Dark Flash turned out being Earth-1 Eobard Thawne (Harrison Wells-face version) – I was hoping for a more jaw-dropping twist.
- I appreciate that it’s a real four-part special this time around when last year’s was technically only a three-parter. The pacing is also much better as a result of better planning and production execution; it feels like a two-part TV movie.
- However, it bugs me a bit that half of the Legends only showed up in the fourth and last part – the Legends of Tomorrow installment. Is it because of a contract thing? Are Ray, Amaya, Nate, and Zari exclusive only to their show?
- I hope that next year’s DCW mega-crossover will have every available character in the final battle. Martian Manhunter wasn’t invited to the wedding. Elongated Man was MIA right from the start. Kid Flash was sidelined after the wedding, assigned to do some BS off-screen security guard duty. Firestorm can’t participate because, you know, Martin Stein died. Vibe had a part, but he was in the Waverider, so he wasn’t in that awesome ensemble scene (see the GIFs above). Meanwhile, Diggle – whose reactions were among the best things in past crossovers – was only shown in the end to officiate the sappy double wedding (the only thing I didn’t like in “Crisis on Earth-X”, btw). Moreover, it would also be nice to bring in the shows’ villains to these crossovers.
- I also hope John Constatine will become a DCW regular. Make him a Legend! And may he also be in next year’s mega-crossover.
- Next year, new DC TV series Black Lightning and Titans are debuting. It seems like they aren’t part of Arrowverse, but it would be awesome if they also join next year’s mega-crossover. And while we’re at it, why not also bring in Smallville to the party? Multi-verse, baby! That will definitely blow minds!
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