Best Moments From Arrowverse's Crisis On Earth-X

The 2017 Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Earth-X" resulted in massive ratings boosts for Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash and DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and delivered consequential plot developments, some emotional moments and a lot of action.

The two-night event pitted The CW's superheroes against the evil counterparts of Arrow, Supergirl and The Flash from a parallel world where the Nazis won World War II. Although conquest and the glory of the Fatherland were certainly motivations, the true goal of the invasion was a lot more personal: the (literal) heart of Supergirl.

Now that viewers have been given a little time to breathe, we look back at "Crisis on Earth-X" and highlight the crossover's most bad-ass and crowd-pleasing moments.

Wedding Brawl

The first encounter between the Nazis of Earth-X, led by Dark Flash, Dark Arrow and Overgirl, and the heroes of the Arrowverse takes place at Barry and Iris' wedding. While that's unfortunate for the attendees, it leads to an incredible fight sequence. From Sara Lance and Alex Danvers ripping their dresses to enable more mobility to Barry catching a spray of bullets, there's plenty of bad-ass moments in this five-minute scene.

Perhaps the best moment, though, is when Oliver Queen teaming up with Cisco Ramon to mount an attack against Dark Arrow, his Earth-X doppelganger. Cisco creates a breach that teleports Oliver above Dark Arrow, bow and arrow at the ready. Although the ploy isn't that successful, it's an inventive team-up that demonstrate how well these heroes work together.

Tommy Merlyn Returns

That's right, Colin Donnell reprises his role of Tommy Merlyn for a brief but incredible moment in the second part of "Crisis on Earth-X." It's not the Tommy we remember, however; it's his Earth-X counterpart, who just so happens to be the Prometheus of that parallel world.

That villainous twist is incredibly effective, as it leads Oliver to spill his heart to Tommy after years of grieving the loss of his best friend, and and give a nod to a popular fan theory about Tommy being Prometheus on Earth-1.

New & Familiar Faces

The four-part crossover introduced new characters, such as The Ray, and new twists on existing characters, as with Citizen Cold. Ray Terrill was shown in a concentration camp on Earth-X, where Leonard Snart came to his rescue. The best part is that they're boyfriends (portrayed by openly gay actors Russell Tovey and Wentworth Miller), and no fuss was made about it. The way their relationship was handled is no different from any other Arrowverse romance.

"Crisis on Earth-X" also served as a great way to introduce The Ray in live-action before his animated series, Freedom Fighters: The Ray, debuts this week on CW Seed.

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Thawne's Taunt

Tom Cavanagh's Eobard Thawne boasts in passing to Supergirl that, sometime in the future, he actually fights, and defeats, Superman. Whether that's actually true remains to be seen, of course, but Thawne did cross paths with the Man of Steel in the 2010-2011 DC Comics miniseries Time Masters: Vanishing Point.

A six-issue companion comic to the "Return of Bruce Wayne" storyline, Vanishing Point followed Rip Hunter, Superman, Green Lantern and Booster Gold as they traveled through history in search of a time-lost Batman. And, in the story's climax, they run afoul of Thawne, who races away before anyone could be "defeated." None of that is to say the events of Vanishing Point will actually occur in the Arrowverse, but it's pretty awesome that this version of Thawne and Superman have faced off.

Saving Supergirl

Supergirl is in more danger than anyone in "Crisis on Earth-X," as the villains need her heart in order to save the life of Overgirl. It seems as if their plans are about to come into fruition as Thawne prepares to penetrate Kara Danvers' skin -- but he's unable to do so. Much to the surprise of everyone, a tiny Ray Palmer, aka The Atom, prevents the scalpel from cutting open Kara. It was unexpected, as Ray hadn't previously been part of the fight, and a great way to give him a key role in the crossover.

To be fair, Kara did say her cousin would come and save her, obviously referring to Superman: Brandon Routh starred as the Man of Steel in 2006's Superman Returns.

The Final Battle

The final showdown between the heroes of the Arrowverse and the Nazis of Earth-X was, unsurprisingly, the crossover's best action sequence. There are plenty of amazing bits to take away from that set piece, but there's one part that's choreographed to perfection, so much so that if felt like a comic book come to life.

A single shot had everything from standard stunts to practical effects to visual effects, all of which were impressive and kept to a high standard. There's something about seeing dozens of your favorite heroes fighting alongside each other; it's the very definition of badass. The build-up was worth it, and it paid off when the heroes finally assembled in a line, ready to take down some bad guys.

The CW's Arrowverse dramas return this week for their midseason finales: Supergirl on Monday, Dec. 4, at 8 p.m. ET/PT; The Flash and DC's Legends of Tomorrow on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., respectively; and Arrow on Thursday, Dec. 7, at 9 p.m.