On Tuesday the Arrowverse wrapped up its latest crossover adventure Elseworlds, which featured The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl facing off against a mad doctor wielding a reality-warping book provided to him by a god-like being known as the Monitor.

The crossover, while far less epic than Crisis on Earth-X, was a lot of fun and spent more time focusing on the three leads as well as giving ample screen time to both Batwoman and Superman, who were fun additions to the usual mix.

But as good as the crossover itself was, its ending tease was perhaps its most shocking part, with the 2019 crossover being revealed.

And if you don’t know by now, that crossover will be the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Crisis was a huge comic book crossover that DC Comics ran in the 80’s as a way to reboot its comic universe. Several heroes died, and the entirety of DC Comics was restructured to be more manageable. I think that the Arrowverse might actually use its version of Crisis to do something similar.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at which characters might die in the 2019 crossover as well as how the Arrowverse could be affected by that crossover moving forward.

Possible Deaths

The Flash Earth – 90

Barry Allen is the hero who sacrifices himself in the Crisis on Infinite Earths comic run to save the world. However, it seems unlikely that the CW would want the lead of its most popular show to bite the dust, so if Barry Allen will yet again be called on to sacrifice himself, I think it will be Barry Allen of Earth – 90 who the writers get rid of.

Personally, I hope that this either isn’t the case, or that Earth – 90 Barry Allen is only one of several heroes whose run in the Arrowverse comes to an end. Given how momentous a shake-up Crisis was in the comics, it would feel like a cop out if a supporting character sacrificed himself to save the other heroes…and then all the TV shows went on like normal.

Green Arrow

During the Elseworlds crossover Oliver went to the Monitor and argued that he should spare Barry and Kara’s lives if he truly believed that a greater threat was coming. He argued that it made no sense to kill off Earth’s greatest heroes.

However, the Monitor said that something had to be given up in order to maintain the balance, if he was to save Barry and Kara. Given that Oliver’s last line to Barry involved enjoying what time they had left, it seems likely that Oliver offered to give up his own life in order to save his friends.

Superman

Both The Flash and Supergirl perish in the Crisis comic run, and while I think that’s unlikely to happen, it’s possible that Superman might take Kara’s place as the one who dies fighting the Anti-Monitor.

In the Arrowverse, Supergirl is the primary “Super” instead of Superman, and, especially early on, the show didn’t do a great job of explaining why Kara was handling major threats alone when her cousin was allegedly around.

At the end of Elseworlds Clark and Lois fly off to Argo City so that Lois can give birth to their child, which takes him out of the picture for now. But if the Arrowverse wanted to end the Superman issue once and for all, then killing him off in the Crisis would be one way to do it.

The Flash Earth – 1 / Supergirl

I’m grouping these two together because, as I’ve mentioned, both of these characters do die in the comics, but both had a near brush with death in Elseworlds and managed to survive. From a storytelling perspective, it would be odd to kill them off after Oliver had to save them by making a (likely fatal) deal with the Monitor.

From a production perspective, I doubt that the CW would want to give up on two of its most successful shows. While Arrow has been around for several seasons, and it makes a certain amount of sense to wind it down, I don’t think that Supergirl or The Flash are in the same boat.

However, Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist are very talented actors who may want to move on to other projects. If that is the case, then Crisis seems like a natural place to have their characters depart the Arrowverse.

The Legends

I hope this isn’t the case because Legends of Tomorrow is my favorite Arrowverse show by a wide margin, but it is the lowest rated of the shows, and I don’t know how much longer of a run it has in it. Crisis would be a fitting place to bring this show to a close, if it has to end.

Anyone Who Wants to Leave

All of the Arrowverse shows have gathered rather large ensemble casts over time. Some of these actors may feel its time to leave their supporting roles and move on to other things, and this would be a great point for them to end their tenures on their shows.

This may also be an opportunity for characters who have been written off shows but not killed to come back and bring closure to their arcs. Thea Queen, Nyssa al’Ghul, Jessie Wells, and Wally West would all fall under this category.

How Will the Crisis Affect Current Shows?

Arrow

As I said in the opening section, I think it’s highly likely that Crisis will mark the end of Oliver Queen. This could mark the end of Arrow as a show, but there are some other possibilities.

This season of Arrow has introduced a new Green Arrow, so it’s possible that the show could continue with someone else picking up the mantle following Oliver’s sacrifice. Maybe that is Emiko Queen, which I would be in favor of, as that would turn Arrow into the only superhero show with an Asian lead. But it could also be Roy Harper, who has played a large role in the flash forward section of this season.

Speaking of the flash forward, I have been curious about how it will resolve and connect with the present. Perhaps half of next season will lead up to Crisis and Oliver’s sacrifice, and then the second half of the season will handle the flash forward with the rest of the ensemble closing out the show and bringing it to an end.

Whether or not the show continues, I would not be surprised to see some of the ensemble members of the cast show up in other Arrowverse shows or even fully transfer to them. Maybe some of them could join the Legends or end up as supporting characters in new shows like Batwoman or on the existing shows after the multiverse merges.

Wild Dog as a DEO Agent anyone?

The Flash

If Grant Gustin wants to leave The Flash, then it’s possible that the show could keep going with another Flash in the lead like Jessie, Wally, or Nora, but I think it’s unlikely that Gustin will leave the show at this time.

I think it’s more likely that Crisis will change Barry’s future. It’s a little strange to have his impending disappearance looming over the show, and since the Crisis is now coming in 2019 (as opposed to 2024) maybe his future gets rewritten and left open so that the showrunners can do what they want with the series moving forward.

Supergirl

This prediction seems like a lay-up, but it seems likely that, as in the comics, Crisis will result in the different Earths of the multiverse merging, and Supergirl will end up taking place on Earth – 1 moving forward.

However, this does open up some interesting options on other shows in the Arrowverse, as Earth – 38 has been filled with different aliens. Will these aliens start to show up on The Flash or other shows? Similarly, will Supergirl now have to face down meta-humans and ninjas (obviously ones with kryptonite) now that she’s on the same Earth as The Flash and Arrow?

I don’t know if the showrunners will explore or take advantage of any of this, but it would feel weird to have Kara shift from one Earth to another and have the show be unaffected by this.

Legends of Tomorrow

I’m uncertain whether the Legends will survive the Crisis event, but if they do, then I could see them being sent on missions to help streamline the now combined timeline of many Earths. Either that, or they could transfer their adventures to the multiverse and try to fix what was broken during the Anti-Monitor attack.

The team might also see some restructuring. With Arrow potentially ending, and I’m sure some of their own members dying, maybe the Waverider will be home to a drastically different crew come 2020.

The Legends have started more and more to become their own thing, and they spend a lot of time away from present day Earth, so I could see them continuing to have all sorts of adventures in whatever manner the writers come up with.

A New Arrowverse Line Up?

Following Crisis, I think it’s likely that Arrow will come to a close. The show has had a solid run, and I can’t think of a better way to for it to end. As I mentioned above, it’s possible that someone else will pick up the mantle, but I think that’s the less likely option.

Legends may also end up being a casualty of the Crisis, though I think that will depend more on its ratings and whether or not the CW wants to renew the show than anything else.

Batwoman has been pretty much confirmed as a new show arriving in 2019, and I think she will, in a way, take the place of Oliver Queen in the Arrowverse. In this iteration of the Green Arrow, Oliver was mostly a stand-in for Bruce Wayne, so what better replacement than an actual member of the Bat Family?

There’s also been speculation that Tyler Hoechlin might get his own Superman show. I’m not sure what that show would look like or how it would affect Supergirl, but there are some fun possibilities there. Perhaps Superman stays on Argo, and the show is more of a space opera than the other shows. Or maybe it’s more family focused, with Lois raising their child.

If Black Lightning was going to join the Arrowverse, now would be the time for it to happen. I’m not sure if this is something that is being seriously considered, but the Crisis would be a good excuse to do it, if it is.

Finally I think there are some more “out there” options that the Arrowverse creators could look into if they wanted. For example, it was hinted that the Earth – 90 version of John Diggle is the Green Lantern, so maybe Diggle could get his own Green Lantern show.

Even more out there, we’ve been seeing a lot of bonding and camaraderie between Dinah and Laurel this season on Arrow, so maybe after the likely close of that show those two (and some others) could go on to form the Arrowverse version of the Birds of Prey. Or maybe they could be the leads in some sort of strange dual Black Canary show.

Conclusion

There are a lot of different possibilities for the outcome of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and I think we’ll have a clearer picture of which direction the Arrowverse is heading at the end of this season. But either way, I’m really excited to see what the writers do with it and what the outcome is.

Are you excited for the crossover? Do you agree with my theories, or are there others you think are more likely? Let me know down in the comments.

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J. Young-Ju Harris is the lead writer and editor of The Geekdom Observer. He is also an aspiring sci-fi and fantasy author. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.