Cw Arrowverse 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' Comic-Con Report: Everything We Learned

While Marvel Studios was dominating San Diego Comic-Con with talk of its next phase of film and television projects, another superhero universe was setting the stage for its most ambitious crossover yet, and it looks every bit as exciting.

Long-time comic book fans know that "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is essentially the Holy Grail of superhero crossover comics. Published in 1985 by DC Comics, it collapsed the DC multiverse into one single universe (for awhile) and saw the deaths of scores of superheroes as they battled the forces of the Anti-Monitor.

The CW's Arrowverse of shows has been setting the stage for their own "Crisis" for years now, first hinted at in "The Flash" series premiere. As that show heads into its fifth season, it will speed headlong into the network's "Crisis on Infinite Earths," the network's biggest crossover event yet incorporating "The Flash," "Supergirl," "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," the final season of "Arrow" and the debut season of "Batwoman."

And unlike events of the past few years, this one won't be resolved in a single block of episodes in a single week. Instead, the five-part saga will take place across the winter hiatus with three episodes book-ending the 2019 chapters in December and two kicking off in January 2020. It's all-but-confirmed one of the 2020 episodes will be the season premiere of "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," but the schedules for the remaining shows remains murky.

Here's everything we know (and think we know) about The CW's most ambitious event yet (plus teaser trailers for four of the five shows below):

The original comic book "Crisis on Infinite Earths" was a threat to the DC multiverse, and it promised that many Earths would die. To that point, the publisher's various comic book lines had existed on separate earths that would cross over occasionally for exciting stories. Sound familiar?

By the end of the 12-part publishing event, the DC Universe would be a single universe with many, many casualties along the way. Many Earths died and many heroes died, while many others merged into a new single continuity on a single Earth. Could the CW be planning something similar so that "Supergirl" and "Batwoman" shift over to join the rest of The CW shows in the same reality?

Or perhaps this "Crisis" will end differently and all the shows will continue to live on in parallel realities, including "Black Lightning," which is apparently in such a reality of its own it won't even be participating ... unless that is The CW's biggest surprise they're keeping close to their chest.

Arrowverse producer Marc Guggenheim promised Comic-Con fans that this "Crisis" will at least kick off in the same deadly way as the comic series. "We're going to begin the way 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' the comic begins, which is the destruction of various parallel universes," he told ComicBook.com. "And the goal is for us to adapt key moments from the comic, those seminal moments."

After dropping the bombshell that Brandon Routh would be returning the blue and red tights of the role he made famous in the film "Superman Returns" -- with a twist -- "Batwoman" executive producer Caroline Dries promised, "We've got a ton, a ton, a ton of characters coming into the five-part event."

Even Routh's Superman is technically a new character as he won't be reprising the Richard Donner version of the character he revived for the film. Instead, he'll be taking on the classic "Elseworlds" version of the character presented in the classic 1990s "Kingdom Come" mini-series, which featured older versions of DC's classic characters in a dark future where the next generation takes vigilante justice too far.

He will presumably come face to face with Tyler Hoechlin's Superman (who has appeared sporadically in "Supergirl" since Season 2). This version is also expected to return from his adventures off Earth at some point during the next season either before or during the epic crossover events. Maybe he'll bring Lois Lane back with him so she can chronicle all this craziness.

Perhaps one of those biggest surprises is the inclusion of Burt Ward, who famously portrayed the wise-cracking Robin in the 1960s "Batman" television series known for on-screen sound effects and campy dialogue between Ward and Adam West as the Caped Crusader. The show's lighter tone would change the direction of the Batman character for years until Tim Burton cast Michael Keaton in the much darker 1989 film.

It's unclear if Ward will be portraying an older Robin, or perhaps someone who'd taken over the mantle of Batman, or a new iteration of his characters entirely, as Routh is. It's also possible he's just a bit of nostalgia stunt casting and he'll be taking on an entirely new role.

Also returning to the fold for the crossover event is Jon Cryer's well-received Lex Luthor, who surprised fans with his dark turn on "Supergirl" last season. "Crisis" fans know that a version of Lex, Alexandor Luthor, played a pivotal role in the original series, but it's unclear if Cryer's version will have anything to do with that character or even be the same Luthor seen on "Supergirl." Parallel Earths and all that.