What Happens to the Arrowverse After 'Crisis on Infinite Earths'?

The ending of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which saw all of The CW superheroes together on the same Earth (that is, Earth Prime) for the first time, will have major implications for the Arrowverse going forward. The crossover may have killed off one superhero, whose show will be ending in a few weeks, but it also established a number of new series that could be coming soon—and the fallout from the battle of the Anti-Monitor (played by LaMonica Garrett) will play out across all the shows.

What will happen after Crisis on Infinite Earths?

WARNING: Spoilers below for Crisis on Infinite Earths and the future of the Arrowverse

The biggest change to the Arrowverse post-Crisis is that we have lost our titular super, as Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) died in Part 4 after battling the Anti-Monitor. Although Arrow was due to end this season anyway, it does mean that the last two episodes of the show will look very different. Though it has been confirmed that Stephen Amell will return for the series finale, the penultimate episode (due to air on January 21) will focus on the new Green Arrow.

After Oliver died for the first time in the Crisis, he passed on the mantle of Green Arrow to his daughter Mia (Katherine McNamara). In Arrow Season 8, Episode 9, we will see Mia return to 2040 to fight crime alongside the two Black Canaries, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) and Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy).

This episode will serve as a so-called 'backdoor pilot'—a pilot for a spin-off that first airs as part of the show it is spinning off from, as often happens in series like NCIS. The CW has not yet committed to making a full series of the show, to be titled Green Arrow and the Canaries, but if fans respond positively to the pilot we may be getting a new CW show in Arrow's place.

We are already getting at least one other Arrowverse show as a result of the events of Crisis. Superman and Lois, starring Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch, will "revolve around the world's most famous superhero and comic books' most famous journalist as they deal with all the stress, pressures and complexities that come with being working parents in today's society" (per Deadline).

This comes after the end of Crisis, when Lois called Clark Kent/Superman from out of town due to an issue with their sons⁠—the first time in the Arrowverse the couple has had more than one child following the birth of Jonathan in the previous Arrowverse crossover Elseworlds. Though it has not been confirmed, it seems that when the multiverse was rebooted after the Seven Paragons took on the Anti-Monitor, one of the results was Lois and Clark had an extra child in this new reality.

Other characters who will have to deal with a new reality are Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Black Lightning (Cress Williams). Previously, both lived on their own worlds, but now they reside on 'Earth Prime,' a rebooted world that (conveniently) features all of the current CW supers, including The Flash (Grant Gustin) and Batwoman (Ruby Rose), as well as Superman, Lois and the new Green Arrow. These two supers adjusting to their different world is sure to be explored in the coming episodes.

Crisis also went further than any Arrowverse crossover to set up a Justice League. At the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, we learn that an unused Star Labs building is being converted into a base where the assorted supers can meet if there is a crisis that requires all their attention in the future. An exterior shot then revealed that the base looks a lot like the Hall of Justice, the home of the Justice League as seen in the Super Friends cartoon series—the show even includes Easter eggs to that show, playing a snatch of the theme while showing us the cage of Gleek, the monkey mascot of the League.

Aside from these Arrowverse changes, Crisis on Infinite Earths also sorted out some continuity problems across other DC shows. In a montage, we see some of the other worlds that house the characters of shows past (the recently canceled Swamp Thing and the Brandon Routh incarnation of Superman), future (the upcoming Stargirl and HBO Max's Green Lantern) and present (DC Universe's Titans and Doom Patrol). Notably, these latter two shows now exist in different worlds, sorting out the increasing continuity differences between them despite the fact that until now they were meant to be set on the same Earth.