Crisis on Infinite Earths has given Arrowverse fans their first big crossover moment between
the DC film and TV universes with a surprising run-in between movie Flash Ezra Miller and
TV Flash Grant Gustin.
But there's more to the shocking cameo than meets the eye.
Crisis on Infinite Earths executive producer Marc Guggenheim opened up to Entertainment
Weekly, revealing just how involved DC Comics chief content officer Jim Lee actually was
in pulling off one of the TV season's most exciting, and unexpected, appearances, saying:
"Basically, I was really working hand-in-hand with Jim.
From the moment we found out that this was a possibility, to once we knew Grant Gustin
was cool and on board with it and Ezra was on board with it, I would send drafts of the
scene to both Jim Lee and [DC Entertainment's film VP] Adam Schlagman, and we would just
go back and forth."
As Marvel and DC have expanded their screen presences over the last decade, they've had
to contend with one glaring issue: how their cinematic universes fit in with their television
ones.
It's been especially tough for DC, which has had more luck among critics and fans with
its animated and TV show properties than it has with its movies.
Up until now, the CW line-up especially has been key to DC's small screen dominance, in
part because it hasn't tried to merge it with the film division.
It's a narrative ecosystem in which writers drop Easter eggs about one production into
another but usually do nothing beyond that, which makes Miller's Crisis appearance the
most serious and significant attempt at a DC cinematic-TV connection to date.
It's also one Guggenheim and Lee were very careful with executing, for the sake of every
universe.
Guggenheim told EW:
"The trick with the scene is...they didn't want me to do anything that stepped on the
toes of the Flashpoint movie that they're developing.
So, we really worked hand-in-hand.
Jim was really great about just making sure that all the parties were talking to each
other, that nothing was getting stalled.
He was a cheerleader when he needed to be, a diplomat when he needed to be."
They may have taken a carefully planned approach to writing the Barry-meets-Barry exchange,
but how Miller's cameo came about was much more impromptu.
In a Variety interview, Guggenheim revealed that Warner Bros.
Television president Peter Roth reached out with a proposition after Arrow had wrapped,
and the crossover was nearly completed.
When Roth asked how Guggenheim would be able to do it, the EP responded with:
"'Yeah, I know, but if you're telling me Ezra Miller can be in the crossover, I can make
it happen.'"
Guggenheim, Roth, and Lee delivered something many fans thought was an improbable dream.
But it was one that writer, director, podcaster, and all-around king of geeks Kevin Smith alluded
to the possibility of during a segment cut from DC's Dawn Of The Justice League TV special.
During a 2016 episode of his Fat Man on Batman podcast, Smith recounted his conversation
with DC Creative Officer Geoff Johns, saying:
"DC is known for nothing if not a multiverse.'"
"Right?"
"So at which point I was like, 'Could they f--ing crossover?'
And he was like, 'Ahh.'"
Miller may have also put out positive vibes for a potential crossover while brushing off
a bit of controversy around the DC film side's decision to cast him instead of merely using
Gustin, who was already playing the speedster on TV.
In a July 2015 interview with MTV News, The Flash star called the existence of two Barry
Allens, quote, "awesome."
"It's parallel universes!"
"It's all good!"
"Grant Gustin is the Flash, and I'm the Flash, don't you see?
It's the event horizon!"
Casual fans will undoubtedly see Miller's cameo as a "dope" one-off moment, but for
those a bit more up-to-speed on the comics and various screen universes, the implications
are way more exciting.
To start, the run-in confirms the existence of a multiverse through Miller's appearance,
something that's corroborated by Gustin's line:
"This should be impossible now."
"This should be impossible now?"
Technically, it shouldn't be possible and yet, there the two Barrys were, proving that
DC may have finally settled on the multiverse as the official answer to and connection between
its big- and small-screen stories.
But there are also hints about the version of Barry Allen viewers can expect in Miller's
upcoming Flash film.
After being repeatedly delayed and going through multiple creative team changes, The Flash
movie is pretty difficult to get a read on.
Over the years that the film has been in development, it's become less clear what exactly audiences
are in for when the Andy Muschietti-directed movie finally premieres in 2022.
However, the Crisis on Infinite Earths cameo did help decipher some of that.
During their brief encounter, both Flashes weighed the possibility of being face-to-face
for different reasons.
As the cameo scene illustrates, Miller's Barry was way less in the know than his counterpart.
His general confusion over where he is, as well as how he arrived there, reveals that
he may be significantly less experienced than Gustin's Barry is when it comes to his full
meta-human abilities, and his knowledge of the multiverse.
It's a perfect place for a film which will reportedly be based on Andy Kubert and Geoff
Johns' Flashpoint novel to start.
Miller's final line in Crisis on Infinite Earths...
"I told Victor this was possible."
...also doubles as a nod to fellow Justice League member Cyborg, and serve as confirmation
that Barry may bring his newfound knowledge of the multiverse to his upcoming standalone
film.
Additionally, the scene also seems to introduce Miller's Allen to his superhero name, believe
it or not.
"I'm also the Flash."
"You're also the what?"
That makes sense if the 2022 movie serves as an origin tale for the DCEU speedster,
and not a story in which he's already a fully-fledged hero.
With how well Miller's Barry seemingly takes to the moniker, fans can maybe look forward
to seeing a nod to the crossover moment from the big-screen speedster in his forthcoming
movie.
While Ezra Miller's Crisis cameo was but a few minutes long, it may have played a pivotal
role in connecting DC's universes, moving the troubled franchise forward and launching
one of its best-known superheroes into a new adventure.
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