Crisis on Infinite Earths Arrowverse Crossover 2020: Trailer, Release Date, and More

The yearly Arrowverse crossover event has become a staple of The CW, but we've never seen one as epic as Crisis on Infinite Earths. After a full year of buildup, three episodes have aired, and we've got two more before this crazy crossover comes to an end.

To get you up to speed on everything we know so far about Crisis on Infinite Earths, TV Guide compiled all the info out there in the multiverse for you. The first section below is for those of you who haven't watched the first three episodes of the crossover that have already aired. It's your (mostly) spoiler-free guide of what to expect when you start your Crisis viewing.

For those of you who have watched Parts 1-3, the second section, at the bottom, is a quick recap of everything that's gone down in Crisis on Infinite Earths so far -- plus, some teases for what's to come in the final two episodes!

Jump to: What to Know Before You Watch, Post-Viewing Guide

What to Know Before You Watch

All five Arrowverse shows will take part. Yep, you read that right. Crisis will be a five-part crossover event, with Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and newcomer Batwoman all airing episodes.

The premiere dates and times are out. The CW has confirmed the crossover will kick off with Supergirl on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 8/7c. It will continue on Batwoman on Monday, Dec. 9 and The Flash on Tuesday, Dec. 10. After the network's traditional winter break, during which no new episodes will air, the crossover will pick up again on Tuesday, Jan. 14 with a new episode of Arrow at 8/7c before concluding with DC's Legends of Tomorrow at 9/8c.

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Black Lightning will also participate. When Black Lightningpremiered, one of the things that stood out about the series was the fact it wasn't part of the interconnected Arrowverse. Now that's changing. The CW announced in August at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that cast members from the series will appear in the crossover for the first time.

We have the official extended trailer for the crossover. The CW has dropped and extended and very stacked teaser for Crisis on Infinite Earths. In it, the end of the world is nigh, as Oliver (Stephen Amell), and Barry (Grant Gustin) prepare to meet their deaths in this Crisis. We also get some cool peeks at White Canary (Caity Lotz), Supergirl (Melissa Benoist), Black Lightning (Cress Williams) and Brandon Routh's Superman, as the extended super team battles to save the multiverse!

Oliver Queen will die to save the multiverse. In the Arrow Season 7 finale, we finally discovered the price of the deal Oliver made with the Monitor in Elseworlds. He told Oliver that the crisis would claim his life, and in Arrow's flash-forwards, we saw Oliver's headstone and his death was dated 2019.

We'll learn about Barry's mysterious disappearance in the future. In The Flash pilot, a headline from the future (the year 2024 to be exact) revealed that the Flash vanishes in a "crisis," which we now know to be Crisis on Infinite Earths. In the Season 6 premiere, the Monitor appeared to Barry in much the same way he appeared to Oliver to reveal that he would not survive the coming crisis, and to save billions of lives the Flash must die. This warning is in line with the tease from The Flash's Season 5 finale, which saw the future headline change its date from 2024 down to 2019 in the final bonus scene.

In The Flash Season 6, Barry used the Speed Force to view "billions" of possible futures, only one of which forecast the survival of his friends and family -- the one where he sacrificed himself as the Monitor predicted.

We're getting a Smallville reunion. Tom Welling will reprise his role as Clark Kent from Smallville in the Batwoman episode of Crisis on Infinite Earths on Dec. 9, and he won't be alone! Erica Durance will also reprise her role as Lois Lane, which is particularly confusing because she also played Kara's mother on Supergirl. This multiverse is about to get so twisted!

One Smallville actor not taking part will be Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor; he tweeted that he would not be making a cameo, revealing that he declined the offer from Warner Bros. to take part in the crossover.

We'll meet Bruce Wayne. Yep, you read that right! Kevin Conroy, who voiced Bruce Wayne in Batman: The Animated Serieswill guest star as a future version of Batman in Crisis on Infinite Earths. He will naturally appear in the Batwoman episode of the crossover on Dec. 9, and we've even got some photos of him in the Batcave!

Crisis on Infinite Earths is an epic Avengers-like crossover

Brandon Routh will also suit up as Superman. Tyler Hoechlin, who plays the Man of Steel on Supergirl, will suit up again for the crossover -- but he won't be the only Superman in the house. Brandon Routh -- known in the Arrowverse as Legends of Tomorrow's Ray -- will also be playing Superman in a different time frame. Routh, who last wore the cape in the 2006 film Superman Returns, tweeted that he was "still pinching himself." In addition to playing Clark Kent, he will also play his Arrowverse character Ray Palmer in the crossover event.

We'll meet a ton of new characters. In addition to Routh's cameo as Superman from Superman Returns, quite a few other Arrowverse actors will be taking on new roles. LaMonica Garrett, who plays the Monitor, will also play the Anti-Monitor, Mar Novu's brother and the major villain of Crisis on Infinite Earths.

The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace also revealed during the show's San Diego Comic-Con panel that Tom Cavanagh will play Pariah in Crisis on Infinite Earths. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths comic, Pariah is a scientist from an alternate universe that sets the Anti-Monitor loose on the multiverse.

Meanwhile, Audrey Marie Anderson will also take on a new role. Though she's played Diggle's wife, Lyla, for the past seven seasons on Arrow, Anderson will now be suiting up as Harbinger in the crossover. Canonically, the character has worked as the Monitor's ally, assisting him in identifying and grooming both villains and heroes to combat the upcoming Crisis.

Harbinger will bring everyone together. In a series of short teasers for Crisis on Infinite Earths, Harbinger appears to each of our heroes to let them know about the wave of antimatter that is sweeping through the multiverse destroying worlds. Though her true allegiance and motives are still unclear, at least we know how everyone (even Black Lightning) will get tossed into the mix.

A ton of old characters will return too. Entertainment Weekly revealed that Elizabeth Tulloch will return as Lois Lane, who was introduced in last year's crossover, Elseworlds. Not only that, but we'll also apparently meet the child she has with Superman!

Supergirl's fall finale revealed that The Monitor resurrected Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) to help our heroes save the multi-verse, despite Lex having very little inclination to help Superman and Supergirl.

Jonah Hex (Johnathon Schaech), the disfigured gunslinger from DC's Legends of Tomorrow, will also return for the crossover event, per Entertainment Weekly.

And John Wesley Shipp will be back too,though we don't know who Shipp will appear as. He's played a total of three characters so far in the Arrowverse -- Henry Allen, Jay Garrick, and his original Barry Allen from the '90s TV show -- and TV Insider has confirmed that he'll be back for another cameo in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

There will probably be more Batwoman and Supergirl scenes. One of the most empowering moments of the 2018 crossover was the team-up between Batwoman (Ruby Rose) and Supergirl (Melissa Benoist). Ruby Rose revealed during the Batwoman panel at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that there will be more of those scenes in Crisis. "I do believe there will be more of that," Rose said before getting the "watch it" signal from the show's executive producers. "They could potentially do more work together in the crossovers."

It's practically just a Superman crossover. As if it wasn't cool enough that Routh, Hoechlin, and Welling will all be suiting up as Superman for Crisis on Infinite Earths, it also appears as if the multiple Supermans will be sharing some screen time. Tulloch and Routh have both posted photos to Instagram of the Supermen together, which is enough to get us speculating about how the three Men of Steel will interact with one another.

Durance and Tulloch have also posed for photos together, suggesting that their versions of Lois Lane could also interact.

Iris West and Lois Lane will likely share the screen, too. Talk about the reporter team-up of the century! Candice Patton posted a photo of her and Tulloch, in character as Iris West-Allen and Lois Lane, from the set of the crossover, implying that Iris and Lois might, in fact, get to share the screen in Crisis on Infinite Earths. For DC Comics fans, this is a momentous event in the Arrowverse!

When asked directly whether these two leading ladies would get to meet in the crossover, The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace was evasive, saying, "I'm not going to answer that, but I think you know the answer. I'm not saying a word!" Take that as you will!

The Photos Have Arrived: The CW dropped the first official photos from the crossover. There were 18 photos from Part One, which will happen on Supergirl. The set includes some epic group shots from the first hour and also a sneak peek at Clark and Lois' baby!

Post-Viewing Guide

The final two episodes will air back to back. Parts 4 and 5 of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which will wrap up this epic crossover, will air Tuesday, Jan. 14. The Arrow episode will premiere at 8/7c leading right into DC's Legends of Tomorrow at 9/8c.

Oliver Queen died saving Earth 38. In the first episode of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Oliver died giving the inhabitants of Earth 38 extra time to evacuate to Earth 1. However, the Monitor told Barry and Kara that this death was not the one he'd originally foreseen, indicating that this passing may not be permanent.

Oliver dubbed Mia the new Green Arrow. Before he died, Oliver gave Mia her very own Green Arrow suit, passing the torch on to his daughter to protect their city and save the multi-verse.

Earth 38 and Argo were destroyed. Supergirl's Earth, Earth 38, along with Argo, the Kryptonian survivor colony, were both destroyed by a wave of anti-matter sent by the Anti-Monitor in the first episode of the crossover.

Oliver was resurrected using a Lazarus Pit. Sara, Barry, and Mia, determined to undo Oliver's death, found a surviving Lazarus Pit on another Earth to bring Oliver's body back to life. They enlisted Constantine's help to restore his soul like he'd done on Arrow for Sara, but his magic failed him and Oliver has been left soulless.

Well, Well, Well, Lucifer's Tom Ellis Showed Up in Crisis on Infinite Earths After All

Our heroes are searching for seven Paragons. The Monitor revealed that the only way to beat the Anti-Monitor is to find seven legendary heroes known as Paragons who can help save the multiverse. The Paragons' identities have been discovered to be as follows: Kate Kane, the Paragon of Destiny; Kara Danvers, the Paragon of Hope; Clark Kent (Brandon Routh's version), the Paragon of Truth; and Sara Lance, the Paragon of Courage; Barry Allen, the Paragon of Love, Ryan Choi (Osric Chau), the Paragon of Humanity, and J'onn J'onzz, the Paragon of Honor.

Kate has a piece of Kryptonite. After visiting an Earth where a future version of Bruce took crime-fighting too far, Kate confiscated a piece of Kryptonite from him, which he presumably used to kill Superman on his Earth. Rather than leaving it behind or destroying it, Kate quietly pocketed the Kryptonite. She eventually admitted to Kara that she'd taken it and offered it to her friend as a show of trust, but Kara asked her to hold on to it as her own show of trust.

Oliver may become Spectre. At the behest of Constantine (Matt Ryan), Lucifer's Tom Ellis provided a trip to Purgatory for Constantine, Mia, and Diggle to retrieve Oliver's soul. They were all ready to take him back to reunite with his body when a character named Jim Corrigan (Stephen Lobo), who called himself Spectre, appeared to stop them. He said he was once called to a higher purpose and now it was Oliver's turn, thus forcing Oliver to choose to stay in Purgatory while his friends returned to the land of the living. Now, the upcoming episode description for Part 4 of Crisis teases Oliver's return as "something else." Could Oliver come back to life as a new incarnation of Spectre before all is said and done?

As if that weren't enough proof, the most recent poster for Crisis on Infinite Earths has Oliver in the Spectre hooded cloak, all but coming out and confirming he's about to become said superhero.

Crisis on Infinite Earths' Body Count Grows Exponentially in Part 3

Barry Allen died... kind of. Earth 1 Barry Allen was all set to sacrifice himself to stop the wave of anti-matter sweeping through the multiverse, but at the least minute, Earth 90 Barry Allen (John Wesley Shipp) volunteered for the job. This presumably fulfills the Monitor's prophecy that the Flash will die in this Crisis, meaning Barry's life is presumably safe.

All Earths were destroyed. The Anti-Monitor absorbed the Monitor's powers, allowing him to kickstart the anti-matter wave and destroy all Earths in the multiverse and our heroes along with it. At the last minute though, Pariah sent the seven Paragons to the Vanishing Point (a place outside of time and space) to protect them. Lex Luthor pulled a fast one though, turning himself into a Paragon in Clark Kent's place when he had the Book of Destiny, so he, like a cockroach, survived and Clark did not.

Barry looks unhinged. In a new promo for the final night of the crossover, it certainly seems like Barry Allen has officially lost it. As the other Paragons try to keep him contained, Barry gets more and more frantic about trying to get out of the Vanishing Point, regardless of the consequences. We guess that's what happens with the Paragon of Love loses all of his loved ones.

The final trailer has arrived. In the final trailer for Crisis on Infinite Earths, shared by Stephen Amell, himself, the final fight with the Anti-Monitor was arrived! Not only do we get to see Oliver in the full Spectre getup, but serveral other members of Team Flash, Team Arrow, and the Legends can also be spotted in the trailer, pretty much confirming the multiverse will be restored in full when all is said and done.

The cinematic and TV universes collided. In a shocking move, Justice League's Ezra Miller showed up as the cinematic version of the Flash. He shared a scene with Grant Gustin's Flash in the Speed Force, in which they geeked out over each others' suits and generally just had a hilarious time together.

PHOTOS: Crisis on Infinite Earths Brings the Whole Arrowverse Together