Surprise! Crisis on Infinite Earths crossed over with Netflix’s Lucifer with a perfect cameo

Turns out the devil really is in the details. There had been rumors that Tom Ellis’ Lucifer, the namesake of the Fox-turned-Netflix series Lucifer, might show up in Crisis on Infinite Earths — and we got to see that epic event in Night 3. Hey, they’re all based on DC Comics, right?

With Mia, Diggle, and Constantine on a side mission to revive Oliver after his heroic death helping evacuate Supergirl’s Earth, they need a bit of help when it comes time to actually retrieve his soul to put it back in his body. Oliver’s soul is stuck in purgatory, and Constantine can’t quite get them there. So he calls in a favor from an old friend.

The trio make a jump to Earth 666 (of course) and roll up to the back door of Lucifer’s downtown nightclub Lux — and out walks the devil himself. It turns out Constantine and Lucifer go way back, and Lucifer is also aware of the multiverse. Apparently Constantine helped him out with something involving Lucifer’s friend (and demon) Maze in the past, and (in a rare occurrence) Lucifer actually owes someone else a favor. So he helps Constantine make the trip to purgatory and their ledger is clear.

The tonal balance of pulling off this crossover was perfect. The Arrowverse team is a bit of a fish out of water in this world, and in classic Lucifer fashion, he is immediately smitten with Mia. He even gets a chance to pull out his trademark “desire” hat trick.

Though they’re both obviously based on DC Comics properties (though Lucifer takes quite a few liberties with the comic canon), it’s amazing they managed to pull this one off. Lucifer made the jump from Fox to Netflix last year, and is gearing up for a final season in 2020. It just turns out Crisis gave fans an unexpected peek back into that world to tide them over.

Crisis on Infinite Earths is on hiatus until January.