Title:Ā Supergirl: āElseworlds Part ThreeāĀ Review
Release Date: December 11th, 2018
Network:Ā The CW
Genre: Superhero, Drama, Action
(Major Spoilers for the Arrowverse āElseworldsā crossover ahead)
Itās going to be hard to write about āElseworldsā Part Three without gushing too much about the amazing teasers at the end.
Yes, āCrisis on Infinite Earthsā has now been confirmed to be the next major crossover for the Arrowverse. This is anĀ Endgame level story for this universe (sorry for the Marvel pun).
Seeing as Barry and Kara did not die at the end of āElseworldsā, I donāt think the plan is to just kill them off next year. The Flash continues to be one of the most successful shows on The CW and Supergirl still seems to have a few great years left in the tank. However, Arrow may be on its last legs. Oliver talked The Monitor into saving Barry and Karaās lives but at what cost? With Arrow reaching its end, things do not bode well for the Emerald Archer going forward. At least we got to enjoy one more bonding session between him and Barry. It just sucks that this may be the final time we see these two just chilling out at a bar.
I may be reading into things a little too much but it seems like Batwoman and Oliver are on course for another (small) crossover later this year. Iām totally on board with this. I was only disappointed with the Psycho-Pirate reveal at the end. Not because the insane guy turned out to be Psycho-Pirate but because I thought it was going to reveal a more notable Batman rogue. Thatās really my own fault though so I wonāt hold it against the episode.
Getting the ending out of the way, letās move on to Supergirl (it was technically her episode after all). In Part One, I talked about how Clark, Lois, and Kara felt like an afterthought in the main story. Luckily, this conclusion put the focus primarily on them.
Iām not going to lie, I donāt watch Supergirl. Part of my reasoning is that I lost some interest after the mid-way point in Season Two and the other part is that I just didnāt have the time to invest in another Arrowverse show. Despite this, I didnāt feel all too lost in Karaās story. Iāve always been a fan of Melissa Benoist as Supergirl and this episode was her time to outshine the guys. I found myself invested in her relationship with Earth-1 Alex, even though I had no idea what was going on with the two characters outside of the crossover.
Same goes for Tyler Hoechlinās Superman. Heās underrated in the role and I donāt understand why DC wonāt allow The CW to use him more often. It looks like they arenāt using the character in the movies anymore, why not let the boy scout be put to good use in the Arrowverse?
Iām not a big Superman fan. Heās fairly boring to me in most iterations. If this was the DCEU or any other version of the character, I wouldāve rooted for the Injustice-like consequences to Loisā impending death. Thereās just something about Hoechlinās Supes that is just…different. I canāt really put my finger on it.
The only negative here is Jeremy Daviesā John Deegan. It wasnāt even a negative, just weird. Since Deegan changed reality into a world where he was Superman, what was the point in bringing in a well-known actor like Davies as the doctor? Itās not like he got an ample amount of screen time beforehand. Maybe Davies returns next year for āCrisis on Infinite Earthsā or in the Batwoman series. It was just something I found strange.
Here are just a few bullet points for some of my observations from Part Three of the āElseworldsā crossover that didnāt make it in this review:
- Seeing Oliver and Barry play the āvillainsā was hilarious, as was Barryās immediate reaction to it
- Where does Oliver keep getting these Kryptonite arrows from? Itās not like he has his own breacher to go to Earth-38
- I really hope Oliver lightens up just a little after this crossover. His character is so dark and brooding all the time. It wonāt hurt for him to have some fun on his own show every once in a while
- It was nice that Superman rode off into the sunset with Lois but thereās no way heās sitting out Crisis next year. I just hope, somehow, DC lets CW use Batman (if only for the crossover)
- The Superman v Superman fight was great. Hearing a civilian call the real Supes “Bizarro” was even better.
- The cameos from Supergirl were fun and, like Karaās story, werenāt too confusing for a non-Supergirl fan to keep up with. That Brainiac guy was pretty cool
- Iām convinced Carlos Valdes can play any version of Cisco at this point to perfection. Heās been Vibe, Reverb, rich/selfish Cisco, and now Mr. Ramon (who sounded like a Chicago crime boss from the 1920s)
- The Legends did show up in this yearās crossover, just not in any way we would have thought. At this point, it wouldnāt surprise me if the Legends of Tomorrow writers had Gary defeat their big bad all by himself. Wait, I may have just given them the idea and theyāre just crazy enough to do it. Forget I wrote that
Verdict: āElseworldsā concluded by giving us everything we wanted and some. The thing is, they may just out-do themselves next year with āCrisis on Infinite Earthsā. This was a character-driven story about Oliver, Barry, Kara, and Clark. Due to this, I was invested in almost every moment of the three-hour event. It had to set up so much. Batwoman. The 1990s Flash coming to Earth-1. Superman and Lois Lane. The Monitor. With all of this setup, I can only recall about 15-minutes of low points in āElseworldsā. This and last year’s “Crisis on Earth-X”Ā have definitely set the bar for TV superhero crossovers going forward.
What did you think about the ending of āElseworldsā? Are you excited for āCrisis on Infinite Earthsā? Let us know in the comments below!
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