Brandon Routh isn’t the only actor stepping back into Superman’s tights on The CW’s upcoming “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover. Tom Welling will return as his version of Clark Kent from “Smallville,” The CW confirmed.
“Smallville,” which featured a pre-Superman version of Kent growing up in Kansas, aired for 10 seasons from 2001-2011. The first aired on The WB before it merged with UPN to create The CW. Welling’s casting means that the crossover will now feature three different versions of the famous DC Comics character.
“Crisis on Infinite Earths” will also feature Routh as an alternate version of Superman — though not the same one from the 2006 film “Superman Returns” — along with his “Legends of Tomorrow” role as Ray Palmer/The Atom — and Tyler Hoechlin, who has been the “Arrowverse” version of the Man of Steel up until this point.
Additionally, Burt Ward will appear in an unknown role — Ward played Robin in the 1960s “Batman” TV show with Adam West — and “Black Lightning” characters will make their first appearance as part The CW’s larger shared universe. Kevin Conroy will also make an appearance on the five-hour event as Batman himself: Bruce Wayne. Conroy, who is well-known for providing the voice for the Caped Crusader in “Batman: The Animated Series” and “Batman Beyond,” will appear as an older Bruce Wayne from the future.
The “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover, one of DC Comics most famous storylines, will be The CW’s biggest. It will span five hours across all five “Arrowverse” shows, including newcomer “Batwoman,” and carry over the midseason break. The crossover begins Dec. 8 with “Supergirl.” That will be followed by “Batwoman” and “The Flash” on Dec. 9 and 10, respectively. “Crisis on Infinite Earths” will wrap up on Jan. 14 with “Arrow” and “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” going back-to-back.
Created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” was a best-selling 12-issue series running from 1985 to 1986 that replaced the DC multiverse, which since 1961’s “The Flash of Two Worlds” had explained the company’s varying and contradictory continuities, with a single streamlined universe and a complete reboot of most DC characters. It was a critical hit and a best-seller for DC and is credited with popularizing the idea of large-scale crossovers in comics.
In the series, The Anti-Monitor, the evil counterpart of The Monitor (played by LaMonica Garrett in the “Arrowverse”), attempts to destroy all of the different universes with the goal of becoming the sole ruler of whatever is left. He’s eventually foiled but at a staggering cost: The surviving five universes are merged into one, and a huge number of classic DC characters are killed off, seemingly for good — including both Supergirl and Barry Allen/The Flash.
Entertainment Weekly first reported the news about Welling.