SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "Crisis on Infinite Earths," the latest Arrowverse crossover.
In "Crisis on Infinite Earths," Kingdom Come Superman found peace at last.
This year, heroes including Green Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and White Canary managed to save the multiverse from destruction. As the fifth and final installment came to a close, the event flashed to different worlds to show their restored status quo. A pan over Earth-96 revealed that Kingdom Come Superman was alive and well -- but something had changed: his "S" shield. Instead of mournful black, his shield has been restored to its usual, hopeful yellow.
In "Part 3," Kingdom Come Superman told Elizabeth Tulloch's Lois Lane why he wore a black shield. "When I put this on – this crest – I made a promise," he explained. "To keep fighting. No matter what. Because, Lois, even in the darkest times, hope cuts through. Hope is the light that lifts us out of darkness."
Kingdom Come Superman, of course, had endured a great tragedy in his life. On his world, Clark Kent lost many of his Daily Planet colleagues -- his Lois, Perry White and Jimmy Olson among them -- in a deadly poison gas attack carried out by a headline-seeking "reject from Gotham." It is suggested he took the black crest after this event, so it may also reflect his mourning.
By changing his crest from black to yellow, "Crisis on Infinite Earths" may suggest Kingdom Come Superman got his happy ending. After all, Oliver Queen recreated the multiverse by defeating the multiverse. In doing so, he merged the Arrowverse with Supergirl and Black Lightning's worlds. It's possible, then, that he made a similarly major change for Kingdom Come Superman, in order to give him back his family and friends.
With a yellow crest, Brandon Routh's Superman comes full circle. The "Crisis on Infinite Earths" version of his Superman was actually an amalgamation between Kingdom Come and Superman Returns. That is to say, the Kingdom Come tragedy happened to Superman Returns' Man of Steel. So, in wearing the yellow crest again, Routh is wearing a nearly exact replica of the Superman Returns costume.
"Crisis on Infinite Earths," the latest five-show crossover between all the Arrowverse series, will soon be available on The CW's streaming service in its entirety.