Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three

Plot

Part One

Barry Allen experiences "time trips" from key moments in his life. One of these moments is a fight with the android Amazo, during which Superman (fictional universe Earth-One) gets injured and is brought to Bruce Wayne for medical help. In response, Barry suggests forming a team with Clark, Bruce, Oliver Queen, fashion model Mari McCabe, and J'onn J'onzz, the Martian who works as a private detective, John Jones. Amazo appears at the unveiling of the Justice League headquarters, as its primary function has been altered by Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor from improving human life to killing anyone who is not human. The League cannot defeat Amazo due to the latter's ability, Parasite, to steal their abilities. The Flash visits Dr. Anthony Ivo, a scientist who has contracted progeria and is dying. While researching quantum energy absorption with Luthor, Ivo created Amazo in hopes of finding a way to extend human life. Ivo sacrifices himself to depower Amazo. Batman deduces that Luthor gave Ivo the disease to prompt his experiments. Hearing this, Amazo turns against Luthor, but chooses justice over vengeance after the Flash's intervention. With Luthor arrested, Amazo returns the stolen powers to their respective heroes before shutting down.

Meanwhile, Barry is sent by a mysterious man to Earth-Three, a parallel Earth. There, Barry is captured by the Crime Syndicate – tyrannical doppelgängers of the Justice League – and is taken to their Hall of Crime. Using her Lasso of Submission, Superwoman interrogates Barry, who confirms the existence of the Multiverse. This inspires the Syndicate to plot a multiversal takeover, having grown bored with ruling their Earth. However, an antimatter wave then threatens Earth-Three. The Syndicate attempts to halt it, but is consumed by the wave, which eventually destroys the world. Barry's doppelgänger Johnny Quick, sacrifices himself to allow Barry to tap fully into the Speed Force and escape Earth-Three before its destruction. The mysterious man witnesses the parallel Earth being destroyed as his punishment and says that Barry shares the guilt.

On the day of Barry and Iris West's wedding, Harbinger appears and recruits Barry, Oliver, Mari, and John Stewart / Green Lantern to go to a space station called the Satellite. Harbinger has gathered various heroes and super-powered people from Earth-One, and several other Earths, on behalf of Mar Novu, a member of an ancient multiversal race called the Monitors. Flash reunites with Earth-Two heroes: the Justice Society, including their Wonder Woman, Superman, and Hawkman. Batman meets Earth-Two's Robin (Dick Grayson) and Huntress (Helena Wayne), the daughter of that world's Bruce Wayne and Catwoman. When the Legion of Super-Heroes member Dawnstar is brought aboard, Harbinger reveals herself to be Supergirl.

Part Two

When Krypton was destroyed, Kara Zor-El's escape pod hit Novu's Satellite. Reluctantly at first, Novu rescued and took her in, feeding and educating her. When it became clear that Kara had lost her memory, he decided not to tell her of her home world's fate. Eventually, Kara discovered her escape pod in the Satellite's hangar and learned of her planet's demise. Enraged at Novu for refusing to prevent Krypton's destruction and withholding the truth, she goaded him to reveal that her cousin Kal-El was alive on Earth, prompting her to find him. Novu continued to observe her, including her training with the Legion of Super-Heroes. When Kara, now Supergirl, returned to Earth in search of Superman and Batman, Novu approached her to help him prevent the antimatter wave from destroying reality. He then gifted her some of his power, transforming her into Harbinger and sending her to gather the heroes.

Years before on Earth-Two, Psycho-Pirate interrogated a codebreaker, his Earth's Doctor Fate. To get Fate to talk, he explained his background. Believing that Psycho-Pirate had a role to play in the Crisis, Doctor Fate gave him the ability to travel between universes. After the plan of his, under the alias of Advisor, to use the Atlanteans to attack the United States failed, Psycho-Pirate used his new ability to leave Earth-Two and escape capture by Earth-One's Flash. Psycho-Pirate then traveled the multiverse, trying and failing to take over various Earths, before being recruited by Harbinger and brought to the Satellite with the heroes.

Time has passed since the antimatter wave hit Earth-One, and what was thought to be a single wave has turned out to be a series of antimatter waves. Many heroes are placed across the multiverse to operate, maintain, and protect the vibrational towers, while Novu's council tries to find a long-term solution. To keep the populations of the parallel Earths calm, they use the Satellite's technology to broadcast Psycho-Pirate's empathic control across the planets. Struggling with the mental strain of the task, Psycho-Pirate persuades Novu to give him some of his power to make it easier. Shortly afterward, Psycho-Pirate is abducted by an entity that is the polar opposite of Novu, the Anti-Monitor, the source of the anti-matter waves. Anti-Monitor offers Psycho-Pirate a new, smaller world to control in exchange for his service.

After a weaker antimatter wave passes over the parallel Earths, shadow demons appear and attack all the towers simultaneously. Superman leads the Justice League to defend Earth-One, Batman defends Earth-Two with the help of a multiversal Bat-Family that now includes Robin (Damian Wayne), Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Batman Beyond, and Batwing. Wonder Woman joins the fight on Earth-46, an Earth ruled by Amazons. Though they discover that the shadow demons are vulnerable to strong light, their attempts to fight them are undermined by Psycho-Pirate, who uses his enhanced abilities to heighten the heroes' hatreds and rivalries, causing them to turn on each other before he teleports them to another Earth. Due to the shadow demons and Psycho-Pirate's interference, not all of the towers are online when the next antimatter wave hits, and many Earths are erased, including Earth-46. Amid the chaos, a furious Supergirl murders Novu when Psycho-Pirate's powers exacerbate her resentment of him.

Part Three

When Novu died, he released the cosmic energy within him into the Satellite. This gave the heroes enough power to transport the surviving Earths and their Suns into a dimension between the universes called "the Bleed", preventing Earth-One's annihilation. Eight months later, Hawkgirl and Earth-Two's Superman recover Wonder Woman's body in space, Wonder Woman having survived Earth-46's destruction due to her immortality. While they are safe from the Anti-Monitor, the Bleed has different laws of physics: natural disasters occur daily; and beings from parallel Earths' past, present, and future have begun appearing all at once, straining the heroes' collective resources.

After being exposed to Scarecrow's fear gas while fighting Earth-10's Nazi soldiers, Batman remembers an old man, whom he now realizes was a dying Flash, telling him to go back to before "the beginning". Doctor Fate confirms Batman's theory that the solution to the Crisis lies before the multiverse was created. Stewart tells the others about Constantine, who claimed to be from that time. Batman, Fate, Stewart, and Wonder Woman leave the Satellite to find Constantine. Using Fate's magic to restore Constantine's memories, they discover that Constantine's Earth was ravaged by Darkseid. To restore his Earth, Constantine instructed his Earth's Flash to travel back in time and kill Darkseid when he was vulnerable as an infant.

Earth-10's Lex Luthor arrives on the Satellite, revealing that the Anti-Monitor has found the Bleed and forced its way inside. After it destroys Earth-146 and Earth-2, Question and Earth-1's Lois Lane deduce that Luthor revealed the Bleed's location to the Anti-Monitor in exchange for Earth-10's survival. Luthor and his team of villains have correctly concluded that life in the Bleed is unsustainable, so they captured Psycho-Pirate and tortured him into contacting the Anti-Monitor. Luthor's true goal, however, was to bring the Anti-Monitor to the Bleed so that they could study its weaknesses, kill it, and return to the regular universe safely. After sacrificing Earth-AD (Earth-86) to the Anti-Monitor to see its abilities in action, Luthor suggests that Earth-One's Superman could absorb the solar energy of all the Earths' suns and channel it into a blast strong enough to destroy the Anti-Monitor. Despite knowing that this act would kill him, Superman agrees only for Supergirl to take his place while guilt-ridden over killing Novu. Returning to the universe, they are aided by a new Green Lantern Corps and Martian Manhunter commanding the Warworld, who uses Psycho-Pirate to unite all the universes through hope. This energy blast weakens the Anti-Monitor long enough for Supergirl's sacrifice to obliterate it.

Voice cast

Cameos

Appearing in all three parts without dialogue are:

Atom, Batwing, Black Lightning, Blackhawk, Blue Devil, Booster Gold, the Challengers of the Unknown, Creeper, Elongated Man, Firestorm, Guy Gardner, Hawk and Dove, Katana, Mento, the Metal Men, Metamorpho, Negative Woman, Nighthawk, Red Star, Red Tornado, Speedy, Star Sapphire, Swamp Thing, Tempest, Starfire, Tomahawk, and Zatanna from Earth-1.

Members of the Justice Society of America (Doctor Mid-Nite, Starfire, Hourman, Jade, Obsidian, Starman, and Wildcat) from Earth-2.

Peacemaker from Earth-4.

Captain Marvel Jr., Mary Marvel, and Uncle Marvel from Earth-S.

Uncle Sam, Doll Man, Ray, and Black Condor from Earth-X.

Thunderer from Earth-7.

Aqualad of Earth-146.

Production

An animated film trilogy based on the storyline Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986) by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez was revealed to be in development since July 2023. The film concludes the DC Animated Movie Universe, which began in 2013. The voice cast and the trailer were revealed that December.

Casting

Part Three posthumously features Kevin Conroy as the DC Animated Universe version of Batman who debuted in Batman: The Animated Series, having completed his voice work before he died in 2022. Will Friedle reprised his role as Terry McGinnis from Batman Beyond in Part Two. Mark Hamill reprised his role as the Joker from Batman: The Animated Series after previously announcing his retirement from voicing the character following Conroy's death.

Jason Spisak also reprised his role as Razer from Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice, while Jennifer Hale voices Aya, replacing Grey DeLisle.

Release

Released in three parts in 2024, Part One was released on digital in the U.S. and Canada on January 9, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray on January 23. Part Two and Part Three were made available for online streaming on April 23 and July 16, respectively. All 3 films on Ultra HD Blu-ray are in native 4K resolution. Both were dedicated to Kevin Conroy and George Perez.

Reception

Critical response

Rafael Motamayor, writing for Inverse, praised the film, saying that "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One finally gets the DC crossover event right", and called it "a worthy adaptation focusing on heart and character". Mae Abdulbaki, in a review for Screen Rant, also gave the film a positive review, praising its faithfulness to the source material.

Hayden Mears of IGN rated the film a 7 out of 10, with the verdict: "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One knows what it is and strives to do right by its source material. There's no depth, no moral murk, no optional profundity for the insight-hungry. Just good, clean, marginally sensical fun. The action and performances are nothing to shake a Batarang at, but it never loses sight of its stakes and (mostly) prioritizes character over plot". Jennifer Borget of Common Sense Media gave it three out of five stars, praising its story but criticizing the scenes of constant jumping between alternate Earths in the film, and feeling that the action scenes were borrowed from other superhero tales.