The extended trailer for "Crisis on Infinite Earths" throws a lot at audiences: worlds dying, Black Lightning’s entrance into the Arrowverse, and a look at Kevin Conroy’s first live-action appearance as Batman. Included in the footage is a news broadcast that depicts the immediate aftermath of the Man of Steel's death at the hands of Lex Luthor in an homage to DC's "Death of Superman," with the hero's tattered cape transformed into a makeshift flag. There's just one problem: Superman is still wearing his cape. Is something else going on here?
This could simply be a mistake. We see it all the time, from random boom mics encroaching into shots to the infamous Starbucks cup cropping up on Game of Thrones. That’s probably the easiest explanation, but we wouldn’t put it past the producers for this apparent oversight to mean something more.
We know there are going to be at least three versions of Superman in "Crisis": Tyler Hoechlin returning as Earth-38’s version from Supergirl; Brandon Routh as the Kingdom Come version; and Tom Welling as the Smallville Superman. The news broadcast clearly shows Hoechlin's Superman lying amid the rubble, with Elizabeth Tulloch's Lois Lane by his side. But is he the one who dies? With plenty of Supermen to go around, it could be any of them.
Let’s turn to the Smallville Superman. After apparently trying for years, the Arrowverse producers finally got Welling to return, although the nature of his role is unclear. The Smallville version of Clark Kent notoriously never suited up as Superman until the series finale, and most signs point to him not donning a costume for this crossover, no matter how much fans want to see him as the Man of Steel.\
Even if he doesn’t suit up, however, the cape could still be his. He doesn’t have to be shown wearing the cape for it to be his; that could be covered over in a couple lines of dialogue. Still, killing off a fan favorite without really getting to see him as Superman could be taken as more of a middle finger to the Smallville faithful.
It could also be the Kingdom Come Superman, played by Routh. It’s heavily implied by his casting that he’s the future of the Christopher Reeve Superman. More than 40 years and an actor change later, we could be getting the future and ultimate end of that beloved character.
This has precedent based on the original “Crisis on Infinite Earths” comic. In that, the original Golden Age/Earth-Two Superman died in the fight that ultimately ended up killing the Anti-Monitor. While the other major deaths from Crisis, Barry Allen and Kara Zor-El, are extremely unlikely because each is headlining a show, this could very well be their moment to make a reference straight out of the comic. It’s not a perfect fit for the promo shot because the cape in the background doesn’t quite match his cape, but it’s close enough it could work.
Finally, we could be reading too much into this. It is Tulloch’s Lois Lane next to Hoechlin’s Superman, so it could be exactly what it looks like. This is complicated by the announcement of the Superman & Lois series, which would presumably want to keep his Man of Tomorrow alive. That series could take part in the past, or this could be early in "Crisis," ending with Superman being brought back to fly off into his own series.
This could just be an editing mistake, but if not, there’s a big clue that things aren’t quite what they seem in Crisis. We know that worlds die, things will never be the same, and Lex Luthor will kill Superman – just maybe not the one we expect.
NEXT: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Crossover Stars Paid More than Their Regular Rate