Arrowverse Crossover's Villain Is Probably the Anti-Monitor

One of the most distinctive and powerful villains in the DC Universe is the Anti-Monitor. Created by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, and Jerry Ordway in the pages of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the imposing and seemingly unstoppable force has become a portent of troubles on a multiversal level. And though he's only made sporadic appearances over the years, he remains one of the biggest, if not the biggest threats to the DC Universe.

With his opposite number (the Monitor) confirmed to be appearing in the upcoming Arrowverse crossover “Elseworlds,” its only logical to expect the Anti-Monitor to also be involved. In fact, he's probably the chief villain of the event.

The Wall Of White

The Anti-Monitor isn’t a particularly complicated entity. The comics incarnation of the character has had his origins revised several times, but for the most part he's remained the same. Created as a dark counterpoint to the benevolent Monitor, the Anti-Monitor is entropy made literal.

While the Monitor was born on Oa (eventual home of the Green Lantern Corp), his opposite came to be on the anti-matter word of Qward. Deciding that he wanted to conquer/destroy everything in the multiverse, the Anti-Monitor went on to become the villain of Crisis on Infinite Earths, making himself quite possibly the biggest bad in the entire DC continuity.

Releasing a wave of antimatter across the Multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Anti-Monitor is responsible for the complete erasure of worlds from DC continuity. Although he is eventually defeated, many heroes are forced to sacrifice themselves to stop him once and for all. This included versions of Superman, Wonder Woman, and scores of smaller characters like Aquagirl and Kole. More notable (and potentially threatening) for the Arrowverse are two of the most iconic deaths of the event: Flash and Supergirl.

We Must Save The World

That's right -- both Barry Allen and Kara Zor-El died while battling the Anti-Monitor. In Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, Supergirl went toe to toe with the monster, saving Superman from an attack, and even destroying some of the Anti-Monitor’s equipment while wrecking his armor. But it wasn't a battle she walked away from, as she was struck down by a sudden blast of energy when her attention shifted even for a second.

Supergirl being held in Superman's arms.

The very next issue featured one of the most iconic Barry Allen moments ever in the character’s sixty plus year history: His death. Alone and imprisoned on Qward, Flash manages to get free and use his speed to turn the energies of an anti-matter cannon back on itself, saving all of creation. But the influx of energy from the cannon is too much for him, wasting Barry Allen away even as he runs and mutters the mantra “we must save the world.” By the time the cannon is destroyed, his body has been reduced to dust in an empty costume.

Both of these deaths were monumental, and both actually subverted the typical revolving door of death in comics for years. Although there were other people who took up the mantle of Supergirl and Flash, it would take until 2005 and 2008 respectively for the actual pair to return to the land of the living. Which doesn’t bode well for the heroes going into “Elseworlds”.

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Given everything we know about “Elseworlds,” it makes perfect sense for the Anti-Monitor to be the main villain the heroes have to contend with. He’s a threat to all universes at once, with a plan to erase all of them if he can, making him the ultimate villain for the united heroes to fight against. So it makes perfect sense to use him as the enemy in this massive universe jumping crossover. He's the exact kind of threat that could bring the entire multiverse together to try and stop.

The confirmation of the Monitor appearing in the event (played by LaMonica Garrett) would indicate that the Anti-Monitor can’t be far behind. Because seriously, why else would you have the Monitor show up if not to play him against the Anti-Monitor? While he hasn’t been formally announced or cast, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him portrayed as a presence in the shadows, or crafted entirely out of CGI. What's more, his eventual arrival has been teased by The Flash.

The pilot episode of the Barry Allen-led series ended with Harrison Wells gazing up at a news report from the future that revealed Barry would eventually disappear during a “crisis” in 2024, a reference to his death from the comics. Also notable in that paper is a mention of red skies. In the DC Universe, red skies are usually a quick indicator for “some real bad stuff is about to go down”, harkening back to Crisis on Infinite Earths and the Flash’s death fighting the Anti-Monitor specifically.

All signs point towards the Arrowverse being introduced to the most dangerous villain in the entire multiverse. While it’s unlikely that they’ll kill of Flash or Supergirl in the middle of their respective seasons, he could still cause a lot of pain for our heroes and even kill some of them. There’s no way the Anti-Monitor isn’t showing up in “Elseworlds.”

Unless, of course, The CW throws the biggest curve ball ever and the villain turns out to be Mandrakk, the vampiric Dark Monitor. Which, come on, that'd be pretty awesome, too.

The three-night Arrowverse crossover begins Sunday, Dec. 9, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.