Multiple sources have reported that Ashley Scott will be reprising her role as Huntress from the short-lived show Birds of Prey in the Arrowverse Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. Sadly, we’ve also learned that Michael Rosenbaum passed on bringing his version of Lex Luthor out for the event.
Birds of a Feather
Ashley Scott’s Huntress was one of three crime fighters in the WB’s Birds of Prey series, appearing alongside Batgirl, played by Dina Meyer, and Black Canary, portrayed by Rachel Skarsten (who is to appear in the new Batwoman series as the main villain). Unfortunately, the show only lasted for one short season of 14 episodes before cancellation. But as in the comics, characters you thought you’d never see again have a tendency to reappear.
Scott joins a number of actors from past DC shows, such as Tom Welling and Erica Durance from Smallville; Kevin Conroy from Batman: The Animated Series and many other animated features; and Burt Ward from the 1960’s Batman series. Adding the large cast of heroes from the current shows and even having Brandon Routh appear as a Kingdom Come inspired version of Superman, a nod to his appearance in the 2006 Superman Returns movie, Crisis will likely be a fast-paced thrill ride. It will be spanning 5 episodes of the CW Arrowverse shows and will no doubt have lasting repercussions.
(While this is merely my own speculation, I can see this as a great testing ground to see if audiences would be receptive to more DC shows. Perhaps a live-action Batman Beyond?)
No Deal for Smallville’s Lex
While we will be seeing Welling and Durance from Smallville in the crossover, it has been reported that Michael Rosenbaum has declined to appear.
Rosenbaum stated: “WB called my agents Friday afternoon when I was in Florida visiting my grandfather in a nursing home. Their offer: No script. No idea what I’m doing. No idea when I’m shooting,” he explained. “Basically no money. And the real kick in the ass: ‘We have to know now.’ My simple answer was ‘Pass.’ I think you can understand why. I hope this answers all of your questions.”
Check out Michael Rosenbaum’s Panel from Wizard World Philadelphia 2018 here.
While the timing of the call may have been a factor and we can’t speculate over the financial issues, providing a script and schedule for Rosenbaum before he accepted might have proved problematic. While the writers likely had an idea of how they wanted the Smallville version of Lex Luthor to appear, it’s unlikely they would have a completed script ready without knowing if Rosenbaum would be involved. Unlike situations where a script can be written and the roles cast afterwards, bringing back specific actors to reprise their roles is no doubt challenging, to say the least. The lack of Smallville’s Lex Luthor in the crossover is a great disappointment to many fans. While some may hope for a last-minute change, each day we get closer to the start of the crossover, the less likely it becomes.
More Guests on the Horizon?
The announcement regarding Ashley Scott was a pleasant surprise. And while we can hope there may be a few more surprises in store, it’s difficult to visualize how they could incorporate more stars of past shows without totally sidelining the current Arrowverse cast. Though perhaps during the crossover we might catch glimpses of other DC properties, similar to what was done in The Flash to show the existence of John Wesley Shipp’s character from the 90’s show of the same name.
But we’ll have to see if there are any more surprises in store.
