Why CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS won't work for the DC Cinematic Universe
I remember the eighties. They were a powerful time for comics. There was a lot of thought and innovation going through both Marvel AND DC. We got the New Teen Titans started off with comic greats, Marv Wolfman and George Perez. The All-New All-Different X-Men were finally hitting their stride with Chris Claremont and John Byrne starting a mutant revolution. Hell, we had a crossover of the two that was handled amazingly. Marvel had its original Secret Wars. And DC changed the way we looked at comics with the mega event, CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS! We had a myriad of alternate universes lining up to be destroyed and the creme of the crop to be saved for the one surviving universe. Every issue was an event NOT to be missed. With heroes dying off left and right, we had the iconic covers celebrating the deaths of the likes of Super Girl and Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash for Gawd's sake! It was the first time we had seen so many chances taken by a comic company. Where SECRET WARS had simply pulled their heroes out of the continuity and placed them at odds with each other and their host, the Beyonder, CRISIS wiped the slate clean and started somewhat over.
Rocket ahead some thirty years or so. After floundering in their attempt to build cinematic clout, MAN OF STEEL spurs DC and Warner Brothers into a new age of competition with the Marvel/Disney movie monster. No matter what you thought of the movie, MAN OF STEEL started something. DC wants desperately to dip into the sea of movie goers and their semi-deep pockets and rake in some of that superhero gold that Marvel is swimming in. So, we get BATMAN VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. In this next installment, we get not just the Man of Steel, not only the caped crusader, but Wonder Woman, Aquaman as well as possibly a few others.
So, who can blame the millions of fan-boys and girls out there wanting to see CRISIS played out on the big screen? I mean pull out your best story, right? Well, although I would like to see this happen and I HATE to bust bubbles, here's why jumping into CRISIS right now just isn't a good idea.
1) The DC Cinematic Universe isn't even developed yet
Come on, people! We just got the cast and the first film nearly in the can. Let's let Warner Brothers, DC and the myriad of
capable stars settle in first! We've only seen Henry Cavill so far, so there's a lot of characters the fans need to get used to seeing in costume. Afleck has a lot to prove, brushing aside the bad vibes of Daredevil. Gal Gadot needs to prove she can fill the Amazonian boots of Wonder Woman. In fact, she's the only worry I have on the cast. Bottom line? They need to be given time to develop themselves and their version of their heroes in the new cinematic landscape. There are a lot of introductions and origins to deal with here. Rushing into a massive event like CRISIS would prove disastrous to say the least.
2) For CRISIS you need a multiverse that doesn't exist in the DC Cinematic yet!
To have a CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, you need infinite Earths, right? The bottom line to not doing CRISIS up front, is the fact that the alternate realities don't even exist yet! In fact, EARTH PRIME hardly exists. When CRISIS debuted, Earth 2 was well established. The JUSTICE SOCIETY, created out of past incarnations of the JUSTICE LEAGUE, not only was well known, but had a near annual crossover with Earth Prime and Justice League that was much anticipated. Meshing the two worlds was a massive move and changed the way we looked at DC's past.
Also well established was the Crime Syndicate of Earth 3 (Precrisis). Of course, Ultraman, Superwoman,
Owlman, Power Ring and Johnny Quick have become big in the NEW 52 after the FOREVER EVIL storyline. But in the Cinematic Universe, neither exists. So, if you go to merge the alternate universes together....well, there's nothing to merge.
So, totally not happening. But, on the flipside, DC should move to develop some of these alternate earths along the way as much as they can. Stories including Earths much like the two mentioned would definitely be cool once they nail down Earth Prime in the theaters. And, given a bit of time, hopefully, we will be set for a cinematic CRISIS of our very own!
