Casting for infinite cameos

Halloween is coming, but that's not the only thing getting people to dress up in costumes.

The fall season of television is well underway and over on The CW its line-up of superhero shows is barreling towards a landmark television event.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe may have given us the biggest movie crossover event ever with "Avengers: Endgame" earlier this year, but on the television side of things the CW's line-up of DC superhero adaptations has been quietly building towards a comparatively similar undertaking.

While Warner Bros. has continually stumbled in matching the MCU's shared universe success, Greg Berlanti has spent the better part of the last decade gradually consuming CW timeslots with an ever growing library of comic book characters.

Starting with "Arrow," a grim and gritty reimagining of Green Arrow to fill in the "Smallville" sized hole in the CW's line-up, Berlanti's "Arrowverse" has spawned a frankly absurd number of spin-offs. Technically speaking, only "The Flash," "Legends of Tomorrow," and now "Batwoman" are true spin-offs. However, that hasn't stopped the Arrowverse from assimilating Berlanti's other projects.

"Supergirl," which was originally an unrelated show on CBS, was moved over to the CW after its first season and has since all but been brought into the fold. The show still exists on an independent and separate version of Earth than "Arrow," "The Flash," and others, but that doesn't stop characters from popping over for a visit once a year for a big crossover special.

In a way, this has proven fortuitous. Comic book readers are well familiar with the concept of a multi-verse but it's not something television often has the opportunity to dive into.

Now that the Arrowverse has spent a few years getting its audience used to the idea of multiple universes, it looks like it's time to amp things up.

While "Avengers: Endgame" made screen time for most of your favorite characters from Marvel Studios, "Crisis on Infinite Earths" may actually be more ambitious. The upcoming six-part crossover event won't just be mixing and matching characters from the various Arrowverse shows. It seems that the CW is looking to see that practically every television adaptation of a DC property ever made gets some representation.

Actors from fan-favorites like "Smallville" to one-season flops like "Birds of Prey" have signed on to reprise their roles for either supporting parts or cameos. This includes Bert Ward, who may be playing an aged version of Robin, and Kevin Conroy, the veteran Batman voice actor finally getting to play a live-action incarnation of Bruce Wayne.

Even "Superman Returns" star and Iowa native Brandon Routh, who already plays the Arrowverse version of The Atom, will be putting on the red and blue tights again, making for three different versions of Superman for the story.

Rumors persist that Crisis will touch on everything from the Tim Burton Batman movies to DC Universe's "Titans" in one way or another, making it a celebration of DC adaptations across generations. It's impossible to say how many characters can, or should, appear. It seems inconceivable that Lynda Carter won't make a cameo and both Dean Cain and Terry Hatcher have already appeared on "Supergirl" so it's not like Berlanti doesn't know how to get ahold of them.

On the other hand, even with six episodes to fill, you can only have so many dramatic reveals of fan favorites. The story can't stop every thirty seconds for a slow pan of the camera as Helen Slater's Supergirl says a one-liner and walks on screen, followed by Shaun Sipos's Adam Strange, and Derek Mears' Swamp Thing.

No matter how many guest-stars and cameos make it in, it's probably never going to be enough anyway.

Just as "Avengers: Endgame" was a once-in-a-lifetime payoff to a decade long series of films, The CW can only do "Crisis on Infinite Earths" once. There won't be any do-overs for something of this scale.

Let's hope they get it right. Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and is crossing his fingers that Will Fridle's Batman makes the cut.