Our first glimpse at the "Elseworlds" crossover is crossing over more than we expected and Oliver's not the only one freaking out.
The latest crossover of the The CW's "Arrowverse" is called "Elseworlds," which comic fans recognize as DC's moniker for alternate realities, but that doesn't mean we're okay with this first teaser!
You don't understand, we take our comic book relationships very seriously and this teaser puts Oliver ("Arrow") into a very uncomfortable situation as he wakes up in an unfamiliar bed with a familiar girl in the nightstand photo next to him, but the wrong girl nonetheless.
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View StoryWe felt every bit of Ollie's confusion as Iris -- as in Barry Allen's ("The Flash") wife Iris -- planted one on him. But it didn't stop there. We've already seen the poster showing Barry as Arrow and Oliver as The Flash, but this is way more than just the two guys swapping superhero identities.
This is a world where Oliver is Barry, and yet it's our Oliver somehow in his body, and suddenly we're even more intrigued. If Oliver is Barry, than is Barry Oliver? And if so, is he in prison on this world, too? And where is Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards)? And what about the other heroes of this universe? Are they all swapped around?
Plus, it's called "Elseworlds," so how many other worlds are we going to explore? And how many of the worlds we've already seen might we revisit? It seems there's a parallel world every time we turn around in the "Arrowverse."
Inexplicably, though, this crossover doesn't include the show that seems to thrive the most on them, "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." Instead, "Arrow" and "The Flash" will be joining forces with "Supergirl" for this one, who's already on a parallel world. And we've seen John Wesley Shipp back in the Flash costume he wore in the 1990s version of that show, so is that yet another world?
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View StoryPlus, we saw a shot of Amell with Colin Donnell, who played Merlyn in early seasons of "Arrow" and returned for last season's alternate reality crossover. So are we also going to return to "Crisis on Earth-X," or will this be another Merlyn, or will Donnell be body-swapped into another role like Amell and Gustin? So many questions!
Add to that the premiere of Ruby Rose's Batwoman and prominent roles for both Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) and the in-universe debut of Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) and we're getting even more overwhelmed. They even have Hoechlin in Superman's iconic black suit from his resurrection after Doomsday in the comics, hinting at a lot of story possibilities.
All they needed was Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher from "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" to really bring the Elseworlds vibe home. And perhaps a certain caped wonder from "Smallville," but more on that in a bit.
Because we're not done yet. We'll be making our first visit to Gotham -- no word on a possible Batman appearance -- and meeting a few of the inmates from Arkham Asylum. Batwoman is purportedly going to be appearing in a potential pilot spinoff which could expand on the Gotham City seen here.
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View StoryIt also has fans wondering if the casting of Lois Lane could mean the same for Hoechner's Superman. With The CW adding Sundays back to its schedule, it has a little bit of room to flesh out its superhero universe. They could even stagger schedule shows like they did last season or consider the DC Universe streaming service as another way to further expand the Arrowverse.
That said, we're not sure how wide DC wants this continuity to go considering "Black Lightning" is apparently not a part of it, even though it shares a network already, and "Gotham" and all the DC Universe shows appear to be existing in separate universes. One could call them all "Elseworlds."
Did we mention scenes from the Kent family farm which some eagle-eyed fans think looks like the one from "Smallville." Now there's no way we're going to anticipate any appearances from that cast, but there could be more surprises in store yet.
But the biggest reveal that has comic fans scratching their heads the most is the inclusion of the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett), a character associated with the original "Crisis on Infinite Earths." That story wiped out all of the parallel DC realities and streamlined it it into a single, cohesive universe ... for awhile.
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View StoryCould this be The CW's way to bring Supergirl and her universe in line with the rest of the Arrowverse? Or even merge the realities of other shows? If so, that would be a monumental shift to the way the shows have co-existed since "Supergirl" first moved from CBS to The CW. Or will his role be much less significant?
The biggest question is how The CW thinks they're going to fit all of this into three episodes across three nights. Are they each three hours long?
The epic "Elseworlds" event premieres across three nights and three shows starting on Sunday, December 9 with "The Flash," followed by "Arrow on Monday, December 10 and "Supergirl" Tuesday, December 11.
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