Let’s start with the basics: it’s that time of year when The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow all meet for a mega crossover. This year, Arrow is switching to Monday night after Supergirl to create a two-night, four-hour event that starts Monday, November 27th at 8 p.m., and continues through Tuesday, November 28th.

As you might expect, the scope of this year’s crossover is bigger than ever before. Last year, Supergirl wasn’t much of a part of it, which is one big change. But the other is that the story is playing out like a movie, where the name of the show doesn’t reflect the action that’s happening in that episode (for example: Barry and Iris’ wedding will technically take place on Supergirl).

In preparation for “Crisis on Earth-X,” The CW released 98 images (!) and a brand-new extended trailer this week. But before that, I was able to visit the sets of all four shows in Vancouver with a group of journalists, where got some crossover scoop from the casts. Below are more details of the event from the cast members, and a few interesting tidbits you’ll want to watch out for (like Heatwave’s interest in Killer Frost?)

Who’s In, Who’s Out

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Image via The CW

As was confirmed in Vancouver, basically every regular cast member is in the crossover except for Supergirl’s J’onn J’onnz and Lena Luthor, and new Flash team member Ralph Dibney. This year in general though, the Supergirl cast will have a bigger role to play. “Oh, I'm all over it!" Chyler Leigh said. "Every day, 14-hour camera days, every single day for three and a half weeks."

As for the cast of Arrow, Echo Kellum shared that “Curtis a.k.a. Mr. Terrific definitely has a bigger footprint in this crossover than last year, and I think he really helps figure out some stuff on what's going on with Crisis-X. I know I can't be too specific, but definitely a much bigger imprint this year in these crossovers than last year.” David Ramsey joked that, “It was very nice, and I had a nice vacation during that time. I didn’t do a whole lot. But the wedding was great. And I got to sit in on our Episode 8, which is the best part of the crossover.”

It looks like we’ll be seeing some interesting character interactions as well. Legends of Tomorrow’s Maisie Richardson-Sellers told us that Amaya has some great scenes with Killer Frost, while Tala Ashe said Zari has quite a bit of time with Arrow’s Black Canary and Wild Dog.

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Image via The CW

Jesse L. Martin said that, as for his crossover interactions: “I’m a huge fan of Melissa [Benoist]. I think she's just one of the best people ever. I love being around her, I really do. The Supergirl cast in general, they're all wonderful people. [Also] Victor Garber, he's one of my favorite people on the planet, so getting to spend any time with him is a joy.”

For Carlos Valdes, it feels like Cisco is an avatar for viewers, and that when his character interacts with these heroes, it’s as if we are. So I'm really humbled. I'm really happy to be able to be that for fans and for the writers and for the story itself. […] I try to bring that degree of relatability and almost fourth wall-ed-ness to the interactions in this year's crossover. Cisco will never betray himself in that way. He will always just be Cisco. And I think fans can always trust that.”

When we asked Sellers who the Legends might could steal next from the other shows, she replied that “We could steal everyone! And that's the great thing. Whoever joins Legends, the weirder the better, because it just changes the whole energy, the dynamic.” (Wally West, guys!)

How Is This Year Bigger Than Before?

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Image via The CW

“I said to myself at the end of last year's crossover, ‘There's no way it could get bigger than this. How are they going to write something bigger than this?’” Melissa Benoist told us. “Well, they wrote something massive that was overwhelming to read, in an exciting way of course, but also at the same time like I had to brace myself. I think we all did.”

Grant Gustin echoed Benoist’s words:

“I think this year, every year we top it. Again, we top it. There's more people than ever included, some of the biggest sequences you'll see with the most superheroes we've ever seen together at any given time. But we stick also, at least The Flash side of things, we stick with the comedy we've had all year. That still exists within the crossover. Barry and Kara have a few interactions that are fun, classic Barry and Kara interactions. I meet a couple new characters. It's bigger than ever.”

“You really get to see a lot of sides of everybody, and sides that you wouldn't expect,” Chyler Leigh shared, especially regarding her fighting alongside her sister Kara and against her evil doppleganger version. “It was a lot of fun.”

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Image via The CW

“It certainly will be a cool experience to see like 35 amazing people, talented, awesome actors and superheroes just thrust together, in these different scenes,” Echo Kellum told us, after revealing that his favorite part was working with the Supergirl cast since he and his daughter watch that show together. “They’re all coming together for the common good and the common focus and common purpose to shut down denizens of Earth-X, as they're trying to break out all havoc on our Earth.”

Stephen Amell revealed that the episode order doesn’t matter “it doesn’t mean shit,” he said candidly. “You can't tell what episode is [from which show]” He added that “I would wager to guess that I have the most screentime in all four episodes of the crossover […] The payoff is that I've seen one cut of one episode, and it's just... It's like a four-hour escape.”

“There are some through-line storylines like Oliver and Felicity's relationship, and Barry and Iris' relationship, and what's going on with Sara, what's going on with Victor and Franz,” he continued. “It really is, for the first time, it's an event. It's not a crossover anymore. Call it the crossover if you want. But it's kind of like calling the Super Bowl just a football game. Yeah, sure, they play football, but there's so much other stuff that goes on with it. It's an event.”

“I like this crossover better than last year’s crossover because there are a lot more human things in it,” Caity Lotz told us. “It is still pretty huge, it is still pretty fantastical. But it is more grounded in the characters a bit and then also kind of what comes out of the characters carries along a little bit more […] the lessons and things will carry on for the characters in the other seasons.”

Everyone mentioned the scene where we see all of the superheroes (25 at least) lined up on the bridge of The Waverider, which has been teased in the crossover images. “You really feel the scale of it this year,” Sellers said. “And this year one thing they did beautifully is there's lost of personal relationships woven into it as well. So it's not just one big fight; you also get to know certain characters a lot deeper, and there's some love in it, and there's some loss in it. It's a very emotional journey as well as spectacular.

Speaking of personal relationships, Danielle Panabaker teased that, “I have some really funny interactions with Dom, with his character. Heatwave’s really into Killer Frost.”

The Wedding

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Image via The CW

The event that kicks all of this off is, of course, the wedding of Barry and Iris, which is what brings everyone together. “It's comic book in that nothing is ever peachy and easy. Disaster ensues,” Chyler Leigh said. “It's everybody banding together and figuring out strengths, weaknesses. You have all these minds in one place, and all these superpowers in one place, all these costumes in one place!”

Gustin shared that, “It's classical, it's a classic beautiful wedding. It was in this warehouse that they built a church. It was insane. You thought you were in a real church, and it was beautiful. I'm excited for everyone to see it.”

Not everyone who is in the crossover is in the wedding through, including Echo Kellum and Brandon Routh. “Ray was not invited to the wedding,” Routh said.  “Which I think has less to do with Ray and more to do with too many people at the wedding that they have to deal with and cover and give air time to. That’s what I like to tell myself, anyway!

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Image via The CW

The Flash cast will of course all play significant roles, with Cisco as the best man. Valdes also said that while Jesse L. Martin’s Joe does not sing at the wedding,

We get a speech from Joe in the crossover, and it's a beautiful speech. That's the thing about Jesse that kills me […] He gets up there, and he just gives it heart and commits to it, whatever the line is, whatever the action is, and everybody just melts. That's his superpower.”

Candice Patton teased the coming of the Earth-X villains, and the questions of whether or not that will impact the outcome of the wedding. She also shared that production flew her to LA to find the right dress for Iris, which was a Monique Lhuillier. “There's a line in the script about how Monique Lhuillier dresses are indestructible,” she told us. “She really goes through it in this episode in this wedding dress and it's still pristine. [But] the most important thing was like, ‘Am I comfortable? Am I going to be able to run away from aliens?’”

Patton also said that it’s too early for fans to start wondering about kids for Barry and Iris, but she did reveal that the two will be going “somewhere tropical” for their honeymoon. “Somewhere with Mai Tais and bikinis are definitely needed. I'll say that much.”

The Evil Dopplegangers

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Image via The CW

We’ve seen in the promo images and the trailer that both the Green Arrow and Supergirl get evil Earth-X dopplegangers. “Stephen [Amell] and Melissa [Benoist] particularly shine,” David Ramsey told us. “They really do a fantastic job. I think you guys will enjoy it, both of them, just what they do.

I really enjoyed Oliver and Kara's stuff – but not in the way that you might think,” Amell teased about the dark version of his character.

It was pretty challenging,” Benoist explained about her dual roles. “I've had moments like that on this show with Bizarro and when Martian Manhunter takes over Kara's body, but this was entirely different. This was not even Red Kryptonite-esque. This was way worse […] I didn't anticipate how hard the transition would be to go from lightness to darkness. A fun challenge.”

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