Arrowverse’s Crisis on Infinite Earths appears to be telling a Green Lantern story from the comics, but may be using Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) instead. Unless Crisis on Infinite Earths has a secret John Diggle/John Stewart surprise in store for one of its two remaining episodes, Green Lantern is one DC hero who will likely miss the Arrowverse’s biggest crossover. However, it’s possible that the Arrowverse is using its original protagonist to adapt a Green Lantern story from the 1990s.
Crisis on Infinite Earths shocked fans by fulfilling its promise to kill Oliver Queen much earlier than expected. Oliver dies trying to save the people of Supergirl’s Earth-38 from Anti-Monitor’s shadow demons. In the second episode, Barry (Grant Gustin), Mia (Katherine McNamara), and White Canary (Caity Lotz) team up to revive Oliver with one of the Lazurus Pits and enlist the help of Constantine (Matt Ryan) to restore Oliver’s soul. When this fails, they have to seek the help of Lucifer (Tom Ellis) in the third episode, who sends them to Purgatory where they reunite with Oliver and meet Jim Corrigan (Stephen Lobo).
Corrigan explains to Oliver that if he wants to stop the Anti-Monitor, he’ll have to “become something else”. In DC Comics, Jim Corrigan is the host of the Spectre, a ghostly entity and one of DC’s most powerful characters. Apparently, Oliver has been chosen as the Spectre’s next host. Oliver becoming the Spectre was an unexpected twist, but also one that may have been inspired by the comics. In the Day of Judgment miniseries from 1999, the Hal Jordan incarnation of Green Lantern became the Spectre.
The Green Lantern was famously killed in the 1990s when DC Comics sent the hero down a villainous path and turned him into Parallax. Hal Jordan was eventually killed by Green Arrow. In Day of Judgment, Hal Jordan is in Purgatory when it’s decided that a soul looking for redemption can be the new host of the Spectre. After Hal is selected and the transformation is completed, Hal Jordan succeeds in helping the heroes defeat a powerful demon. Hal Jordan is separated from the Spectre in a later storyline.
What happens to Green Arrow in hour three sounds eerily similar to the events that led to Hal Jordan becoming the Spectre. Though Day of Judgment isn’t related to Crisis on Infinite Earths, this is an interesting way for the Arrowverse to simultaneously conclude Oliver’s story and incorporate the Spectre, who played an instrumental role in the comic book version of Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Spectre engaged the Anti-Monitor in an epic one-on-battle, so this could be where the Arrowverse will go with Oliver Queen.
More: Crisis On Infinite Earths Is Giving Supergirl The Spotlight
