‘Crisis on Earth-X’ Is the Best Superhero Movie You Haven’t Seen on Netflix

When it comes to superhero movies, Netflix has plenty. On the Marvel front, you can stream Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Thor: Ragnarok. As for DC, you can stream 2/3 of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy (and also Catwoman but… don’t watch Catwoman). These are all movies that superhero fans ranging from casual to hardcore have definitely seen, probably many times over, and maybe that takes a bit of the excitement out of Netflix’s superhero offerings.

That’s why I’m here to tell you that there is one feature-length superhero adventure on Netflix that you missed if you’ve not ventured into the vast world of comic book TV shows. But this adventure isn’t like anything else you’ve seen on the small screen.

I’m talking about “Crisis on Earth-X,” a four-part crossover between the CW’s quartet of DC Comics series. The event stretched across episodes Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow that aired last November, and you can now watch the entire thing back to back to back to back in one sitting on Netflix (albeit by switching between four different shows; Netflix needs a playlist option!).

The CW shows have done annual crossover events for the past four years, starting in 2014 with the addition of the first Arrow spinoff The Flash to the network’s lineup. The crossover has grown in size, expanding to incorporate Legends of Tomorrow (a series spun out of the 2015 crossover) and Supergirl (which jumped from CBS to The CW in time for 2016’s big event). By the time 2017’s “Crisis on Earth-X” happened, four shows were involved, making the entire adventure a whopping 160-minute-long mega movie. The event could easily be described as Avengers: Infinity War on a TV budget–and I mean that in the best way. There are action scenes in this network TV show that rival what Marvel pulled off, with dozens of powered-up individuals slugging it out in frame at once–except they did it in a fraction of the time with a fraction of a fraction of the budget.

There’s one major reason why “Crisis on Earth-X” works way more as a feature than individual episodes of television: it’s structured that way. Previous crossovers made it very clear, sometimes clunkily so, which show you were watching by shifting the focus to that series’ protagonists. That’s not so with “Crisis on Earth-X,” which begins in Supergirl at the wedding of two Flash characters, and ends on Legends of Tomorrow with major milestone moments (no spoilers!) for heroes that have nothing to do with that show. While that might make for annoying TV if you’re just a fan of, say, Arrow, it actually makes for one rad movie experience when you watch the whole thing all at once.

And “rad” really is the best way to describe “Crisis on Earth-X,” because it is rad AF. Whereas the DC movies lean into the grim and gritty, the DC shows actually feel a whole lot more like the comics–and not the special, “Here’s one creator’s super edgy mature-readers take on Plastic Man” kinda stuff either. I’m talking about the lighthearted, brightly-colored adventurous ridiculousness that kept comic readers delighted in the ’80s and ’90s. The CW shows are somehow even more bombastic than the Marvel movies, and that’s why 160 minutes of super-fights actually zips by a whole lot quicker than the 151 minutes of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The premise of “Crisis on Earth-X” is also refreshingly crystal clear: Earth-X is a parallel Earth that’s so far gone that it didn’t get a numbered designation (as it’s said in the crossover, who would ever want to find a way to that Earth?). What’s so bad about it? Well, everyone’s a Nazi! Hitler’s forces won in World War II, leading to a present day Earth that is the bleakest of bleak. That also means that Earth-X’s versions of a lot of heroes are also raving, genocidal racists.

But even with a threat as overwhelmingly evil as that, “Crisis” manages to be a total blast–mainly because punching Nazis is an upsettingly relevant pastime in 2018, and seeing a huge kickass cast of diverse superheroes doing the punching feels very cathartic. Imagine Captain America: The First Avenger but 40 minutes longer, Agent Carter has superpowers too, and also there’s a whole lotta canonical queerness. Seriously, this “movie” is literally 400% gayer than all the Marvel movies combined.

If that description intrigues you, then I say make plans to stream all four parts in a row ASAP, even if you’ve fallen behind on these shows or have never even watched them before. “Crisis on Earth-X” is a canonically dense affair, that much is true. But the beauty of these CW shows is that, just like Avengers: Infinity War, they focus on clear characterizations and emotional resonance just as much as they do awesome fights. Even if you can’t tell Heat Wave from Captain Cold or Felicity Smoak from Caitlin Snow right now, you will leave this mega-movie with a firm handle on who the main players are (and probably more than a few new fave heroes).

And let me circle back to that premise one more time: don’t you just want 160 minutes of superheroes beating back an army of bigots? This is the superhero movie you need to watch right now–and below are the links that will make your binge easy.

Stream "Crisis on Earth-X" Part 1: Supergirl on Netflix

Stream "Crisis on Earth-X" Part 2: Arrow on Netflix

Stream "Crisis on Earth-X" Part 3: The Flash on Netflix

Stream "Crisis on Earth-X" Part 4: Legends of Tomorrow on Netflix