WARNING: The following contains spoilers for "Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 3," which premiered Tuesday on The CW.
Superman Returns actor Brandon Routh has himself returned to play the Man of Steel in The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event. Before the crossover aired, the black and red emblem seen on his chest in publicity photos had led many to speculate Routh was going to play Mark Waid and Alex Ross' Kingdom Come incarnation of Superman. While there are some differences, the storyline's third chapter on The Flash reveals why Routh's Superman wears that version of the emblem.
"When I put this on – this crest – I made a promise," Routh's Superman, who hails from Earth-96, tells Earth-38's Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) in the story's latest chapter. "To keep fighting. No matter what." Superman had just returned from failing to save another Earth from the Anti-Monitor's antimatter wave. Lois then asks him why he added black to the logo.
"Because, Lois," he responds, "Even in the darkest times, hope cuts through. Hope is the light that lifts us out of darkness." As if to exemplify that hope, the Man of Steel immediately departs again, intent on saving the next world.
While the world of Earth-96 isn't exactly like the one shown in Kingdom Come, there are plenty of resemblances, beyond the emblem. Routh's Superman is older, not unlike Kingdom Come's. And in his world, Clark Kent lost many of Daily Planet colleagues -- his Lois, Perry White, and Jimmy Olson among them -- in a deadly poison gas attack on the Planet carried out by a headline-seeking "reject from Gotham." In Kingdom Come, The Joker carried out such an attack, although The Joker isn't specifically mentioned in "Crisis."
There's likewise no mention or sign of the many lawless, superpowered humans that were running amok in the world of Kingdom Come. In that series, Superman and other first-generation heroes came out of retirement to bring order back to a dangerously unruly world.
Despite the differences, though, the location of Earth-96 is almost certainly a nod to the series, which was first published in 1996.
No reason was ever explicitly given for Superman's new crest in Kingdom Come, but the character's explanation in "Crisis" certainly aligns with the reasons for his return in that series -- to bring hope back to an anarchic society. At least, that was his intent.
Superman briefly wore a similar crest in the aftermath of Jeph Loeb's "Our Worlds at War" storyline in 2001 and 2002, but for different reasons. The change was to memorialize the many lives lost in the intergalactic Imperiex War.
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" will conclude after a winter hiatus on Tuesday, Jan. 14, on Arrow at 8 p.m. ET/PT and on DC's Legends of Tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET/PT.