Written by Edwin Francisco
Crisis on Infinite Earths would’ve buried the SnyderVerse. As fans still campaign to restore the SnyderVerse, the previous Warner Bros. regime had a different plan. Obliterate it from existence.
If Marvel Comics has Secret Wars, DC Comics had Crisis. Marvel Comics first introduced the idea of the company wide crossovers with Secret Wars. But DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths stood out because it’s not only a companywide crossover. It also introduced that all the comics under DC were part of a connected universe. This was one of the best things DC has done. It was from Marv Wolfman’s writing with art from George Perez. It was an iconic comic-book event and fans still consider it as one of the most important events in its history. It’s not only an epic event in the DC Universe, but it also gave them a big reset button.
Crisis opened up the opportunity to redo all the characters. After Crisis, DC gave them new origins, new histories. Superman got a redo from John Byrne. Batman got one from Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. While Wonder Woman got her makeover from Greg Potter, Len Wein and George Perez. And so did other characters in the DC Universe.
Crisis On Infinite Earths Would’ve Killed The SnyderVerse
Image: HBO Max
This was something that former DC Films president Walter Hamada wanted to do to the DCEU. In other words, reset the DCEU and remove the SnyderVerse.
Hamada and the heads at Warner Bros. weren’t happy with Zack Snyder’s treatment of the DCEU. This was obvious to many. After Man Of Steel, Snyder had a very difficult job of making the DCEU. Thus, both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League got into production. But the financial return of films disappointed Warner Bros. and DC Films. After Joss Whedon’s Justice League, we didn’t see the return of many of the cast for years. Where was Henry Cavill? In addition, where was Ben Affleck? And Ray Fisher?
While Marvel Studios put out movies left and right, DC Films went the opposite direction. Cavill’s Man of Steel 2 didn’t have any update. The Batman solo film by Affleck went into a crisis of its own. Fisher’s solo Cyborg film never materialized. The only films we saw from the Justice League cast were Aquaman and Wonder Woman.
Crisis On Infinite Earths Would’ve Killed The SnyderVerse
Image: HBO Max
DC Films and Warner Bros. just lost faith in the DCEU or the SnyderVerse. And it seems that they were just finishing the contracts and canceled the ones that gave them headaches. The Flash was going to be an important film for DC Films because in their plan, it mixes up the DCEU. It’s going to be the reason why there would be a Crisis in the first place. They planned for Michael Keaton to replace Affleck as the Batman. Same thing with Sasha Calle was to take over from Cavill as its mainstay Kryptonian.
Even Leslie Grace’s Batgirl could have solidified that Affleck’s Batman vanishes from the DCEU. Remember that in the film, her father is Jim Gordon whom J.K. Simmons portrayed. The same character from Justice League. And Keaton’s Batman also exists in that movie? That raises some questions. Does Gordon just accept that there’s just an older Batman?
The Hollywood Reporter has pointed out that the Rock had his own plans for Cavill’s return as Superman. While reports say that the old DC Films didn’t want Cavill to return, as they labeled him “Persona non grata” before. The Rock was insistent on getting back Cavill’s Superman in front of the camera. Not as a faceless cameo like in Shazam! or Peacemaker.
When Discovery bought WarnerMedia, this shook up DC Films and Warner Bros. Under the guidance of the new CEO David Zaslav, they wanted to see more of the SnyderVerse. On the contrary, Hamada preferred to reset the DCEU by making Crisis. Zaslav sought to keep what remained of it.
Crisis On Infinite Earths Would’ve Killed The SnyderVerse
Image: HBO Max
It wasn’t the first time the Crisis event happened in live action. And this was just recently, too. Greg Berlanti adapted Crisis in the Arrowverse. The event spanned in several different TV shows namely Arrow, The Flash, Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. Not only that, but they incorporated more characters from other movies and shows. They added Brandon Routh’s version of Superman. They incorporated the Birds of Prey TV series. Somehow, they also added Robert Wuhl to reprise his role as Alexander Knox from Keaton’s Batman. They even added Burt Ward as Dick Grayson. And the best kicker at the time, they got Ezra Miller to reprise his version of the Flash to meet Grant Gustin’s version. Crisis from the Arrowverse was a bit campy, but it was quite fun.
Crisis might be a dead project now. But there are rumors that a major Crisis-level event will happen eventually. This might or might not happen under DC Studios. If DC Studios wants a big film similar to Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, a Crisis-like event has to happen. Gunn has been teasing Kingdom Come lately, too. But for that to happen, there must be a good reason for people to watch it in the first place.
Gunn and Safran will give us updates and a clearer picture of what could happen in the new DC Universe. But until then, most projects that the studio previously planned or discussed are cancelled or on hold.