Four-day, “giant-sized” DC superhero crossover event begins Monday on the CW

Is a Crisis on Infinite Earths adaptation on its way at last? Never before have all the pieces been laid out so well to adapt such a major comic book storyline. We have key player Barry Allen from The Flash, which spun-out of the Arrow series, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow have enough timey-wimey time travel to be able to see, view, and undo anything, and then the CW pulled over Supergirl from ABC this year and brought Superman with her. So the building blocks are ready. Is CW and DC Entertainment willing and able? Next week we’re going to see a step in the right direction with a mega-superhero week.

Monday, the CW begins a four-night crossover event with its four DC Comics-inspired series–and nothing screams comic books louder than a good crossover and major league team-up. The villains are a bit obscure–the Dominators–aliens Supergirl will encounter Monday night. The Dominators first appeared in the 1960s in Adventure Comics with a brief reprise in a mini-series called Invasion in 1989, and that’s the take-off point for the villains in next week’s event.

So it’s “Heroes vs. Aliens,” comic books coming to life in perhaps the biggest character showdown ever, actors donning Academy Award-winning costumer Colleen Atwood’s pantheon of more than 17 hero supersuits (Green Arrow, The Flash, Diggle/Green Arrow 2, Supergirl, Superman, Black Canary, Vixen, The Atom, White Canary, Steel, Wally West, two Firestorms, Speedy, Death Stroke, Martian Manhunter, Heat Wave, and more). We haven’t seen this many superheroes on TV since the animated Super Friends.

In the middle of the week, Arrow will see its landmark 100th episode Wednesday night. Who would have thought any superhero series would survive this long? Take a look at these previews for crossover week: