Brandon Routh Will Be Superman Again For 'Crisis On Infinite Earths' Crossover In The Arrowverse
Brandon Routh is one of the few actors fortunate (or maybe unfortunate) enough to strap on the blue tights and red underwear and soar through the sky as Superman. Plucked from obscurity, Routh played the Man of Steel in Bryan Singer's 2006 film Superman Returns, which was also kind of a remake of Superman: The Movie. Yeah, it was a weird one. Now he'll be putting the cape back on again for the upcoming Arrowverse crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths over at The CW. Deadline was the first to report news of Brandon Routh playing Superman again. What makes this casting all the more interesting is Routh already has a role in the Arrowverse as Ray Palmer, aka the superhero The Atom on DC's Legends of Tomorrow. So now he'll be pulling double duty during the crossover, which aims to adapt one of the biggest and most beloved DC Comics story arcs of all time.
Let's not forget, there's already a Superman in the Arrowverse played by Tyler Hoechlin. His version of the Man of Steel has been featured a few times in Supergirl and has played into previous crossover events in the Arrowverse as well. Since the Arrowverse is part of a larger multi-verse, that means Tyler Hoechlin and Brandon Routh will be playing two different versions of Superman from two different universes.
It's this kind of stunt casting that makes me wish I was into all the shows within the Arrowverse. It's not that I completely dislike what's happening withArrow, The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl, but it's a lot to keep up with. And even though the budget for these shows allows them to have solid special effects and production design, there's still something about them appearing cheaper than big budget superhero fare that makes it a little less appealing to me. But I still appreciate how much fans have come to embrace these characters, especially since the big screen side of the DC Comics universe has been very disappointing.
Crisis on Infinite Earths was teased as the next crossover event after last year's big crossover concluded in December. This year, the crossover event will span even more shows as a five-part event unfolds for Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and the forthcoming inaugural season of Batwoman starring Ruby Rose. Since the latter is a midseason debut, the crossover event will begin in December with Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl, and won't finish until early in 2020 with the fifth season premiere of DC's Legends of Tomorrow and series premiere of Batwoman.
DC Comics published Crisis on Infinite Earths as a 12-issue maxiseries from April 1985 to March 1986, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez. During the event, a villain known as The Anti-Monitor (the evil counterpart of The Monitor) starts to destroy the various versions of Earth that make up the DC Comics universes. This results in a call to action for many of the major DC superheroes, including Superman, Supergirl, and The Flash – though the latter two characters ended up dying in the battle in two of the most iconic moments in DC Comics history.
How will the Arrowverse adapt these stories? We'll find out later this year, and there will probably be much more to learn after the Arrowverse shows have their Comic-Con panels.