Crisis On Infinite Earths not only brought Smallville into the Arrowverse, but it made TWO characters played by Tom Welling official canon when Lucifer, the other comic book-based series Welling starred in, joined The CW’s shared superhero universe. At the end of the mega-crossover’s third part, an evil cosmic being called the Anti-Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) ended the Multiverse with an antimatter wave. This leaves only seven surviving heroes, known as the Paragons, as the Arrowverse’s last hope, along with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who is turning into the Spectre.
However, in Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 2, the chapter that took place on Batwoman, Smallville fans’ dreams came true when the world of Tom Welling’s Clark Kent and Erica Durance’s Lois Lane joined the Arrowverse as Earth-167. Welling’s Man of Steel briefly met his Earth-38 counterpart Clark (Tyler Hoechlin), Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch), and Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton), who were impressed by Smallville‘s Kal-El. And although Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) was hopping across parallel Earths killing Supermen, he more than met his match when he ran into Smallville‘s Clark. The diabolical villain discovered that the Kansas farm boy gave up his superpowers to live like a normal man on the Kent farm and raise a family with Lois. Even though Earth-167 was destroyed in the Crisis, the Smallville scene reaffirmed Welling’s Clark was as noble as ever and Durance’s Lois is still his irrepressible better half.
While Smallville‘s final moment in the sun got its deserved attention, a second Tom Welling character also sneakily joined the Arrowverse when Lucifer became canon. In The Flash‘s Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 3, John Constantine (Matt Ryan), Mia Smoak (Kat McNamara), and John Diggle (David Ramsey) jumped to Earth-666, the world where Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) abandoned the throne of Hell to become the philandering owner of Los Angeles’ hottest nightclub, Lux. This means that Lucifer‘s world and everyone in it, from his partner Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) to his angelic brother Amenadiel (DB Woodside), also officially became Arrowverse canon – and that includes Lt. Marcus Pierce, the character Tom Welling portrayed in Lucifer season 3.
The curious part of Lucifer’s cameo in Crisis is that, because the Devil was still running Lux – which contradicts the events of Lucifer season 4 – this means that the scene took place before the events of the Lucifer TV series, which is also a few years before Cain entered the picture as Marcus Pierce. However, keep in mind that it was John Constantine, a member of the time-traveling Legends of Tomorrow, who brought Mia and Diggle to Earth-666. Therefore, it makes sense that Constantine would jump back in time to speak to Lucifer in Earth-666’s LA as opposed to trying to find the Devil at his more current whereabouts, which would mean taking the new Green Arrow and Spartan to the pits of Hell.
While it’s impossible to get more heroic than Clark Kent, AKA Superman, Welling broke that mold on Lucifer when he took on the role of Marcus Pierce, who had a secret Biblical alter ego: Pierce was actually Cain, the world’s first murderer who was marked by God and cursed with immortality. Even though Pierce had a day job as a cop (and Decker and Lucifer’s LAPD boss), Cain was also known as the criminal mastermind called the Sinnerman. So, fans instantly got two Tom Welling DC Comics characters made into Arrowverse canon in an understated fashion. Now, thanks to Crisis On Infinite Earths, Tom Welling is his own doppelgänger in the Multiverse and they also happen to be two beings who are on polar opposite ends of good and evil.
Crisis On Infinite Earths Parts 4 & 5 air on Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Tuesday, January 14 @ 8pm on The CW.
