After the premiere of The Flash Season 5, we unpacked the relationship between the "Flash vanishes, Missing in Crisis" headline from 2024 and the "Flash still missing after 25 years" headline from 2049. Now we have the full text (almost) of that Central City Citizen article and it all but confirms The Flash Season 5 will do a spin on "Crisis on Infinite Earths." Even more, all of this could link up with The Flash's 100th episode, which takes place just weeks before the Arrowverse's "Elseworlds" crossover event. But first, read the newspaper article (as much as we could decipher) below:
It was a beautiful spring day in Central City. Not so different from that morning years ago when the clear blue sky turned crimson red, and the Scarlet Speedster vanished in a crisis. Thousands gathered here at the Flash Museum to commemorate that day's quarter century anniversary. Names were read of the other victims of the attack, and Governor Singh gave remarks on the Flash's enduring legacy.
The details of Flash's disappearance remain murky. A 2026 Congressional Commission repeated the Citizen's initial reporting. Hours after the sky turned red, the Flash and his allies fought the Reverse Flash. The ensuing street battle caused the most destruction this city has ever seen. It was not until the Flash and Reverse Flash disappeared in an explosion of light that the chaos ceased.
But in the years following the crisis, accounts only grew more contradictory. Some eyewitnesses remember dozens of other heroes present, including Green Arrow, Batwoman, and Elongated Man. Others remember heroes thought lost in time, like The Atom, or from other worlds, like Supergirl. Some even contend they saw Reverse Flash leading an army of "shadow demons."
Scientists at Ivy University's Memory Institute chalk up those…
Research has focused on Roger Hayden, a.k.a. Psycho Pirate, who claims to remember the night's events. He said upon his arrest, "Worlds lived, worlds died. Nothing will ever be the same."
And nothing ever was. Staring at the golden statue of The Flash, this reporter remembers the words of Former Police Chief Joe West, "We don't have the details…"
Just to refresh, the original "Flash vanishes, missing in Crisis" article from 2024 references "red skies" and "crisis," which alone was enough to direct comic book nerds to Marv Wolfman's Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985). But this latest article references Psycho Pirate, a direct associate of Anti-Monitor, the main villain of that crossover event, which consolidated the worlds of the DC Universe into one multiverse.
The quote, "Worlds lived, worlds died. Nothing will ever be the same," is pulled straight from Crisis on Infinite Earths. The series was marketed with that tagline, as Psycho Pirate is the only one who remembers the pre-Crisis' Infinite Earths. "You see, I know the truth. I remember all that happened, and I'm not going to forget," he says.
In Crisis, The Flash sacrifices himself to save the DC Universe from the Anti-Monitor. He remains dead for more than two decades before returning in Final Crisis after 23 years. In the show, Barry has been gone for 25 years.
Supergirl, not mentioned in the original article written in 2024, mentioned now is a scary prospect; she also died in Crisis. The text specifically says she's from another world, which holds true in the Arrowverse currently. She's on Earth-38.
Ray Palmer, a.k.a. The Atom, is also, just like the article says, "lost in time." He's a member of the Legends, who live on the Waverider, a ship that travels through time fixing anachronisms.
Shadow Demons were Anti-Monitor's minions in Crisis, so the reference here cannot be a coincidence. It's quite interesting that they're being led by Reverse-Flash, though...
The text also mentions "other worlds" and Batwoman, which both fit in with the "Elseworlds" crossover theme. Elseworlds is an imprint of DC comics set outside the established DC continuity. A big part of Crisis was the destruction of worlds and the unification of one universe.
The Flash Season 5 episode 8 is the100th episode of the series, promptly followed by the "Elseworld" crossover event, which takes place during The Flash Season 5 episode 9. Since The Flash doesn't go missing until April 25, 2024, there are still so many questions about how Crisis could even happen so early, let alone be tied to the 100th episode or crossover event. However, Barry's daughter Nora did travel thirty years back in time. It would be a shame if that doesn't affect the timeline somehow...
Do you think Crisis will factor into the crossover event? Sound off in the comments.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Autumn Noel Kelly started as a staff writer for Newsweek in 2015. She covers anything in the comic book world—TV ... Read more
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