Movies | DC Comics
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths — Part Three
Will our heroes be able to bring an end to the threat of the Anti-Monitor?
Spoilers ahead.
Last Tuesday, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths finally concluded with the last entry in the trilogy series. In Part Two, we primarily followed the respective stories of Batman, Psycho Pirate, and Kara, as the collective of heroes desperately scrambled to protect the multiverse from destruction. However, we soon learned that the ongoing crisis was the result of a being who would come to be known as the “Anti-Monitor.” As the heroes successfully avoided each antimatter wave, the Anti-Monitor would change his tactics in response.
Eventually, these series of events would ultimately lead to the emergence of mysterious shadow-like creatures, and later, the Anti-Monitor himself. With the main antagonist of this crisis now on the battlefield, our heroes are the only ones standing between the multiverse and complete annihilation.
The official synopsis for Part Three is as follows:
Now fully revealed as the ultimate threat to existence, the Anti-Monitor wages an unrelenting attack on the surviving Earths that struggle for survival in a pocket universe. One by one, these worlds and all their inhabitants are vaporized! On the planets that remain, even time itself is shattered, and heroes from the past join the Justice League and their rag-tag allies against the epitome of evil. But as they make their last stand, will the sacrifice of the superheroes be enough to save us all?
With Part One and Part Two having established the three major characters of this trilogy, we can hopefully expect Part Three to focus less on exposition. In the end, will the film adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths do justice to Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s comic series? Let’s find out.
Brief Breakdown
Part Three wastes no time and immediately picks up where we left off in the previous entry. The Anti-Monitor, who’s launched his assault on the heroes, seems nigh invincible, as he adapts to every attack thrown at him. In this moment, all hope seems lost, but before the Anti-Monitor can claim victory, every remaining version of Earth is transported to a mysterious dimension known as “The Bleed.”
The Bleed, which exists outside of the multiverse, provides a safe cover from the Anti-Monitor, but is completely unstable. As we learn from the heroes, apparently several months have already passed since they all arrived there. However, it’s revealed that time isn’t the only unstable aspect of this dimension. Temporal anomalies occur regularly and each Earth faces natural disasters daily. As a consequence, the heroes have been forced to ration resources between their worlds while regrouping.
As we briefly witness a Jurassic incursion on Earth-1, we then cut to Earth-10, which reveals Psycho Pirate as a captive of Lex Luthor. While we don’t yet know his intentions, it’s implied that Lex wants to use Psycho Pirate to contact the Anti-Monitor. Coincidentally enough, some time following this interaction, the Anti-Monitor temporarily finds his way into The Bleed, destroying three Earth variants.
As the story progresses, the Anti-Monitor’s rampage continues, resulting in the destruction of another Earth and rising tensions. Everyone begins to question how the Anti-Monitor could consistently locate them within the vast space of The Bleed. At that moment, though, Lex confirms that he did in fact sell out the location of certain Earths. However, he reveals that his reasoning was for data. Acknowledging that the multiverse was doomed, Lex weighed that each appearance of the Anti-Monitor could provide an opportunity to learn its weakness.
Despite his intellectual ruthlessness, Lex’s gamble does end up being successful. The weakness of the Anti-Monitor is revealed to be a powerful source of light, which Superman can acquire by harnessing the energy of the remaining Earths’ suns. But, in a twist of fate, Kara ends up becoming the center of this plan. Blaming herself for the Monitor’s death, Kara believes that the risk of this plan should fall on her.
Superman objects, but to no avail, due to Kara’s stubbornness and the final arrival of the Anti-Monitor. The remaining heroes decide to make their last stand in a bid to buy Kara time to absorb the required energy. Unfortunately, much like their previous encounters, their combined might does nothing to slow down the Anti-Monitor.
With the aid of some old friends, though, the heroes manage to accomplish just enough for Kara to reach maximum power. As she flies directly into an opening created in the Anti-Monitor’s armor, Kara releases the power of several exploding suns. Her heroic efforts eliminate the immediate threat to the multiverse, but as expected, at the cost of her own life.
What Are My Thoughts on the Film?
Personally, I think that Part Three of this series was much better than Part Two. Part Two seemed like it struggled more with its pacing, which made the story a bit disjointed and hard to follow at times. Part Three, on the other hand, was a perfect way to wrap up the Tomorrowverse. A few things that I really appreciated were the callbacks to past animated films, such as Justice League: Warworld, Legion of Super-Heroes, and Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.
What’s more, it was really nice to see the stakes be raised again. As far as emotional investment goes, it was almost on par with what we witnessed in Part One between Barry and Iris. As the Anti-Monitor tore into The Bleed and began erasing worlds, we got glimpses of Earth variants that have been depicted in past popular DCU media. Among those variants included Earth-2003, home of the original Teen Titans animated series. Although, I guess that was more of a playful jab towards the fans, since I’m sure DC is tired of everyone asking for a continuation of that show.
Earth-12 was another world we got to see, which holds a lot of significance for fans as the home of Batman: The Animated Series. Across all DC animated media, Kevin Conroy’s performance as Batman is regarded as the absolute best. That said, hearing his voice acting one last time in Part Three felt like a proper farewell, especially since that universe will no longer exist. Although, I suppose that can be said for many other voice actors from the 90s and early 2000s. After all, Earth-12 was also the home of the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited series.
Everything considered, while Crisis on Infinite Earths is one of DC’s greatest stories, a three-part movie format may not have been the best medium to express that. Even though Part Three did an excellent job at ending the story, there were certain elements that clearly didn’t have enough time to be fleshed out. Fortunately, the movie doesn’t suffer too badly from this, and I believe that Director Jeff Wamester did an amazing job with the material he had.
Conclusion
Even though the Tomorrowverse has been more than entertaining, I’m glad to see it finally come to an end. Merging all the multiversal madness into one timeline also gives us a clean slate for when James Gunn’s animated universe eventually arrives. Ideally, with a focus on new characters, strong storytelling, and a new animation style, the Gunnverse will carry the DCU to even greater heights than the Tomorrowverse.
With everything finished, how do you all feel about reaching the end of this universe? Did you enjoy the Crisis on Infinite Earths trilogy? Are there any highlights from the Tomorrowverse as a whole that stood out for you? What are your thoughts on certain Earth variants being erased for good?
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