Brandon Routh’s ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ Superman Costume Pays Homage to a Classic Comic

Kingdom Come is coming to the Arrowverse.

On Twitter, DC unveiled the new costume of one of the returning heroes joining the Arrowverse for its epic “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover, and it very clearly pays homage to — or perhaps spoils some plot points related to — a classic comic book storyline. As part of the crossover, Superman Returns’ Brandon Routh will return to play the Man of Steel again. And here is his costume...

The black and red Superman symbol and the graying temples are unmistakably from the Superman featured in the 1996 series Kingdom Come written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Alex Ross. Here’s a piece by Ross from the Kingdom Come Superman’s later appearance in the series JSA:

Kingdom Come is a tale of a dark future, where the DC superheroes are mostly retired. After a disaster, Superman comes out of retirement and reforms the Justice League. It does not go well. It makes sense to use Routh in this role within the series, as this Superman has jumped into other universes and series before. Plus, it’s a really great costume.

The five-part “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover begins on December 8 on Supergirl and then continues on December 9’s Batwoman, December 10’s The Flash and then (after a Christmas break) on January 14’s Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. It’s going to be quite an event for DC TV fans.

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