The final segment of the three-part animated series “Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths” covers a lot of ground. The heroes manage to survive the anti-matter wave after the death of the Monitor triggers “The Bleed,” a realm where all realities coexist simultaneously, leading to a very crowded situation.
This context sheds light on the state of the multiverse, particularly after John Constantine’s (voiced by Nolan North) Earth was plunged into war with Darkseid. In “Justice League Dark: Apokolips War,” Constantine sends the Flash back in time to kill that New Gods despot when he was still a defenseless child. This act disrupts the time-space continuum and results in the creation of anti-matter waves.
Meanwhile, Lex Luthor of Earth-10 (voiced by Corey Stoll) is leveraging Psycho Pirate (voiced by Geoffrey Arend) to negotiate with the Anti-Monitor in exchange for sparing their reality from villains. However, Luthor also aims to halt the Crisis and is willing to sacrifice multiple worlds to study how the waves function. These worlds include the realm of the Super Friends (Earth-508), “Batman: The Animated Series” (Earth-12), Earth-10, and the Teen Titans’ universe (Earth-2003).
Supergirl seeks redemption for killing the Monitor by remaining inside the sun, enhancing her powers. She confronts the Anti-Monitor and ultimately sacrifices her life. In the meantime, the heroes transform Warworld into a weapon capable of defeating their formidable foe.
Using magic, Constantine employs Superman’s Miracle Machine and Wonder Woman’s sacrifice to create a single universe, where all heroes enter except for The Question (voiced by David Kaye), who refuses on principle. Surprisingly, even Constantine is granted a chance to live, thanks to the Spectre (voiced by Lou Diamond Phillips). However, he follows the Ghost of Vengeance into an unknown world.
This new universe introduces a host of new heroes, including Adam Strange (voiced by Brian Bloom), Bat Lash (voiced by Brett Dalton), Nightshade (voiced by Ashly Burch), Lobo (voiced by John DiMaggio), Captain William Storm (voiced by Dean Winters) and The Losers.
The most poignant aspect of this installment is that it marks the final battle between Batman, voiced by the late Kevin Conroy, and the Joker, voiced by Mark Hamill. This episode is dedicated to Conroy, who sadly passed away last year.
As I mentioned in a previous review, the Crisis impacts all DC universes at various points, which is undeniably tragic. However, it feels akin to Ragnarok—a necessary reset that clears the way for future developments. It would have been interesting if some of the other New Gods had made an appearance. Maybe the death of Darkseid caused them to never be.