Black Lightning to appear in Crisis On Infinite Earths — but how?

Black Lightning will be making his official debut in the Arrowverse as part of the heavily-anticipated Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover, but how will he appear?

Black Lightning has been a part of The CW’s line-up of shows for almost two years. The hard-hitting superhero series has received praise from both critics and fans for its realistic approach to the comic book-inspired stories and the important issues that it tackles while doing so.

Despite the pleas of some fans, the show has yet to be welcomed into the wider Arrowverse and thus, remains separate from the network’s other superhero shows Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl. However, it looks like it’s finally going to enter the madness of that universe this season.

After weeks of rumors, We Got This Covered reported that the electrifying superhero was set to appear in the long-awaited Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover, before Black Lightning himself, Cress Williams, also confirmed it on his own personal Instagram account, reminding viewers that we asked for it. Oh, yes we did.

A major revelation, no doubt, but it is one that has brought with it a number of intriguing questions – especially in regards as to what it means for Black Lightning itself. According to the report, the character won’t have a huge role to play in the crossover and will, instead, be featured in a limited capacity – much like Batwoman in last season’s Elseworlds crossover. That, however, doesn’t change the huge repercussions it could have for the future of both the show and the Arrowverse.

Black Lightning has always adopted a grittier and realistic approach, which ultimately set it apart from its Arrowverse counterparts, but there have been slight allusions to heroes that exist within the Arrowverse, such as Supergirl and Vixen (although the versions we know are from different earths). Thus, fans have spent the past two years wondering which earth the show actually takes place on because, as far as we know, it isn’t Earth-1 or Earth-38.

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While the character’s introduction would be a conundrum on a normal occasion, it’s much easier to explain with the Crisis coming up, as that game-changing event will feature a number of familiar faces from outside of the Arrowverse.

Legends of Tomorrow‘s Brandon Routh is set to reprise his most famous role as Superman (from Superman Returns) while Tyler Hoechlin will reprise his Supergirl role as Earth-38’s Superman.

Moreover, the legendary Burt Ward will make some kind of appearance (though it’s unknown if he’ll be portraying ’60s Robin) and there are rumors that we may see likes of Lynda Carter, Tom Welling and John Wesley Shipp reprise their respective iconic roles from Wonder Woman, Smallville and the ’90s Flash series.

Thus, with all of that in mind, and the fact that the Crisis is based on the possible destruction of the multiverse, it really doesn’t matter which earth Black Lightning takes place on, or how realistic it is, because with the multiverse in danger, the characters could easily make an appearance in order to help the Arrowverse heroes save it.

The only question is: Will the Crisis officially join Black Lightning‘s world to the Arrowverse and, if so, will it pave the way for longer crossovers in the future?

Black Lightning returns to The CW on Monday, October 21 for its third season premiere. Will you be tuning in for Season 3? Are you excited to see the character make his long-awaited Arrowverse debut? Let us know in the comments below.