Crisis: Every Lex on the Council of Luthors, Explained | CBR by Brandon Zachary

Crisis: Every Lex on the Council of Luthors, Explained | CBR –

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the story “The Council” in Crisis on Infinite Earths Giant #1, by Marv Wolfman, Marc Guggenheim, Tom Derenick, Tom Grummett, John Kalisz and Chris Sotomayor, on sale now

With the entire DC multiverse under risk due to the events of “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” the Arrowverse has quietly become one of the most vital pieces of the expanding DC multimedia multiverse.

As this tie-in comic reveals, in-between the events of the previously released episodes of the crossover, Lex Luthor got the chance to meet many of the other versions of himself in the Council of Luthors. A number of these Luthors just made their Arrowverse debuts in DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths Giant #1, tying The CW version of the DC Universe closer to the various worlds of the multiverse.

The meeting takes place on Earth-99, the world where Kate Kane and Kara Danvers confronted an older and broken Bruce Wayne earlier in the television crossover. Many of the versions of Lex Luthor who appear in the story are deep-cut references to previous versions of Lex from across the history of DC Comics. This includes the red-headed Luthor who first appeared in the Golden Age, the Bronze Age version of Lex wearing his Lexor War-Suit, and the more heavy-set version that appeared in the Post-Crisis Man of Steel relaunch of the Superman comics. There’s even a version of Luthor from the 1990s, when he used a clone body to pose as his illegitimate Australian son, Lex Luthor II.

There even appear to be some of the more bizarre versions of Luthor from across the comics multiverse. A Lex Luthor seen in a robe could be the Lex from Earth-33, where magic is the defining aspect of the reality. However, that version of the character was also seemingly killed by Apex Lex during his multiversal purge of other versions of Luthor. There’s also a female version of Luthor. This is presumably the Luthor from Earth-11 (which is a gender-swapped version of the core DC Universe), who hasn’t had much of a role in previous stories. There’s even seemingly two versions of Lex Luthor from Pre-Crisis versions of Earth-3: the bearded Luthor who was the only hero of his world, and a version of Lex wearing the distinct golden armor of his son, Alexander Luthor Jr.

“Crisis on Infinite Earths” has brought back or alluded to almost every past live-action version of the DC Universe and tied them together into the multiverse. Former stars of DC films and television series have also been making appearances in their famous roles, and that trend continues to be the case for Crisis on Infinite Earths Giant #1. Among the council of Luthors are many versions of the character from across various other forms of multimedia. Notably, the Gene Hackman version of Luthor from the Richard Donner Superman films (easily identifiable by his distinctly colorful suit) was responsible for bringing the Arrowverse Luthor, portrayed by Jon Cryer on Supergirl, to the meeting in the first place.

Among many of the other Luthors are versions of the character who appeared in previous television versions of the DC Universe. A version of Luthor wearing his iconic purple and green suit from Superfriends is among the group, suggesting the classic cartoon also exists within the multiverse. Michael Rosenbaum’s version of Luthor from the Smallville television series may not appear in the actual crossover, but President Luthor is one of the versions of the character present at the meeting. There’s also a version of Luthor seen in what appears to be an orange prison jumpsuit. If that’s the case, this could be a subtle reference to Jessie Eisenberg’s Luthor from Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, who was arrested before making his escape to try and begin the DC Extended Universe version of the Legion of Doom.

While most of these Luthors were presumably wiped out along with the rest of reality, the Arrowverse Luthor is one of the Paragons who’s hiding out at the end of time, and he may very well end up playing a big role in saving the multiverse.

“Crisis on Infinite Earths” will return after the winter hiatus. The crossover will conclude on Tuesday, Jan. 14 on Arrow at 8 p.m. ET/PT and in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The Supergirl, Batwoman and Flash episodes are now available to stream on The CW.

NEXT: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 4 Photos Tease a Significant Time Jump

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