It’s here…the crossover event has officially kicked off!

I don’t know about you, but I stayed away from any teasers or reading anything about this year’s crossover prior to watching it. To quote Frank Costanza, “I like to go in fresh!” All I really knew was that it would involve Earth-X. I really like these events because they allow for the exploration of DC’s Multiverse. So when I saw the text on the screen, I was excited—not because I like Earth-X—but because several years ago, I wrote a description for Earth-10 (X) for the DC site to support Grant Morrison’s MULTIVERSITY project. (It’s still up, if you want to go check it out: http://www.dccomics.com/characters/earth-10)

Personally, I think this is a great place to center the story. Who doesn’t want to see Earth-X lose? More so, it’s a really good example of the ‘What if’ aspect that comics and their characters love to explore. It’s even cooler when it has cultural and historical ties.

So let’s begin…

I thought the pacing in Supergirl was well done. They did a nice job of planting the seeds to Earth-X in the beginning to give the feeling that this looming threat will hit at some point, but you don’t know when or why. Then they transition to a carefree vibe of a bunch of friends hanging out at a wedding before everything hits the fan.

Speaking of the wedding…who was that girl who talked to Barry like she knew him before he went to the altar? Even he seemed a little weirded out and confused. Also, Felicity’s superstition about marrying Ollie? Please…get over it. Haha.

I thought the fight in the church was awesome. There was some great action and I liked how they showed our heroes’ powers matched their counterparts from Earth-X—almost like they washed each other out. Very cool. What I struggled a bit with was the Earth-X characters once they removed their masks and we started to get a feeling for them in the second part of the event.

The first thing that hit me was the lack of accents. I also expected more of an aggressive, evil demeanor to them. To me, Nazi-Ollie seemed just like our Ollie, but in a different suit. The same also went for Evil Kara. I was thinking they’d be more sinister and ruthless. I also didn’t really dig Earth-X Prometheus. Granted, he wasn’t around for long, but why was it Malcolm Merlyn and not Adrian Chase, and why have him in it for such a short amount of time? The only thing I can think is that they want the focus to be more on our heroes and their evil counterparts. Either way, it seemed out of place to me. Did anyone else feel the same way?

I did, however, like the idea of having actual Thawne working with the baddies and not an Earth-X version of him. It means he’s out there causing chaos with other Earths’ timelines and not just his own. As far as villains go, that can make for a really good one. I have a feeling that he’ll play a big role before the end of this thing.

The overall story thus far has been aces. With a simple and familiar backdrop of Nazis looking to assert their dominance and sprinkles (not too much) of the various teams’ inner workings and issues, it’s made for a nice watch.  The big twist with Nazi-Kara slowly dying and needing our Kara’s heart to survive helps bring in that super hero dynamic—which is awesome.

The home run for me is when it’s revealed that the Nazis need the prism to create a red sun in order to weaken Kara and harvest her heart. Very science fiction, very comic book and very cool.

I was secretly hoping the event would at some point lead back to Earth-X and was pleasantly surprised when our heroes are transported there at the end of the episode. I’m excited for this not because I want to see what Earth-X looks like—I think that’s pretty self-explanatory—but because I’m hoping we’ll be introduced to the resistance fighters there. If parallel Earth rules apply, there must be a group of heroes on X, right? I have to believe so since we already got a sneak peek at one in the beginning of Supergirl and Curtis theorizes it, too. If we do get some Earth-X protagonists, I’m really hoping for brand new heroes or lesser-known DC characters, and not anyone we’ve seen before. That would be really cool.

By the way, that Metallo cameo was awesome. Woo! Hoping for some more little gems like that…

Looking forward to seeing the team(s) slugging it out through Earth-X in tomorrow’s episodes! Who will be joining me?

Until next time,
Matt
 

Matt Ross covers Arrow as a part of the #DCTV Couch Club. Catch new episodes of Arrow Thursdays at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. CST) on The CW.