Spoilers ahead for the season finales of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow!
Each of the CW’s four current Arrowverse shows has concluded its 2018-19 season. The finales of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow all had more on their mind than bringing the current season to a close.
They also each included a tease for next season’s Arrowverse crossover event, “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”
The crossover isn’t scheduled to start until December, so the teases in each show indicate the people behind the Arrowverse are playing the long game with the event.
With such a massive crossover on the horizon, writers and producers must already have a plan in place about what will play out and how for the characters in each series.
Each finale tease provided different information, some more detailed but all of it, inevitably, vague.
On Arrow, the mystical Monitor, who Kara, Barry, and Oliver met during this past season’s crossover, came to take Oliver away so he could make good on his promise to help the multiverse in any way required.
The Monitor said that he’d seen the future and Oliver will die in the upcoming Crisis. In addition, in a flash-forward to the future, Oliver’s gravestone is seen with a 2019 year of death.
On The Flash, the tease is very brief. In the finale’s final shot, the date on the front page newspaper article about The Flash’s disappearance changes to 2019 from the year previously shown, which was originally further in the future.
On Supergirl, The Monitor is seen once again. He met a Green Martian who he transported to National City. The Martian turned out to be J’onn J’onzz’s brother.
The Monitor encouraged him to take his revenge on J’onn for some unspecified wrong J’onn did him in the past. As the episode ended, The Monitor did magic over the lifeless body of Lex Luthor.
Finally, on Legends of Tomorrow, The Monitor watched the Legends’ show at the Heyworld theme park. As the Legends attempted to convince the audience that they don’t have to fear magical creatures, the Monitor observed from the back of the crowd, looking annoyed.
Yet, he was also entertained enough to chow down on popcorn while he watched.
The Monitor is a key player in three out of the four finale teases so it goes without saying that he’ll play a major role in “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” However, he doesn’t always seem to have the best interests of our heroes at heart, as his actions at the end of Supergirl imply.
The Monitor is a cosmic being who’s more interested in balance in the universe than good triumphing over evil. One way or another, though, he’s still pulling strings throughout the multiverse, most likely in preparation for the coming Crisis.
While Legends of Tomorrow won’t premiere until the crossover happens at midseason, Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and new Arrowverse series Batwoman will have several months of episodes before the crossover.
It’s possible The Monitor could continue to show up from time to time to set various events in motion.
One way or another, it appears that on Arrow and Supergirl, at least, The Monitor’s actions in their finales will have a major impact on the two series’ stories when their new seasons begin in the fall.