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We knew that The Flash Season 8 would be kicking off with a five episode event; but now we know a lot more about the epic special, titled “Armageddon,” as well as the stacked roster of guest stars from the Arrow-verse who will be appearing.
For those who missed the initial news, though, here’s the deal… With continued delays in production due to COVID, The CW has been working with its ongoing series in order to get episodes out in a timely manner, while also recognizing that said episodes will not be finalized as quickly as they were pre-COVID. To that end, the network is broadcasting five new episodes of The Flash, and Riverdale, this Fall — and then the shows will take a break, before continuing the rest of their seasons some time next year.
And now we know what form The Flash event will take, a five-part special that kicks off November 16 at 8/7c and will feature appearances by:
Javicia Leslie as Batwoman, Brandon Routh as The Atom, Cress Williams as Black Lightning, Chyler Leigh as Sentinel, Kat McNamara as Mia Queen and Osric Chau as Ryan Choi. Not only that, but two fan favorite villains will be rearing their heads during the event: Tom Cavanagh as Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash, and Neal McDonough as Damien Darhk.
Particularly exciting for fans, the event will include several actors who have otherwise finished their time in the Arrow-verse: Routh, who left DC’s Legends of Tomorrow last year; Williams, who wrapped up Black Lightning with Season 4 earlier this year; Leigh, who is currently on Supergirl, which is finishing its final run of episodes right now; McNamara, who was on Arrow and the never picked up spinoff series Green Arrow and the Canaries; and Chau, who was last seen in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover.
“Simply put, these are going to be some of the most emotional Flash episodes ever,” said Eric Wallace, Executive Producer of The Flash in a statement provided to Decider. “Plus, there are some truly epic moments and huge surprises that await our fans. And we’re doing them on a scale that’s bigger and bolder than our traditional Flash episodes. So yes, Armageddon is a lot more than just another graphic novel storyline. It’s going to be a true event for Flash and Arrow-verse fans, old and new. Honestly, I can’t wait for audiences to see what we’ve got planned.”
For those who don’t quite know what Wallace is referring to when he says “graphic novel storyline,” the past two seasons of The Flash have been split into what Wallace calls “graphic novels,” i.e. different storylines that split the seasons, though ultimately tie together in big and small ways. That said, fans of the DC Comics The Flash is based on might have their alarm bells ringing thanks to a seminal (and highly controversial) actual graphic novel (or at least, trade collection) from 1991: “Armageddon 2001,” written by Archie Goodwin and Dennis O’Neill, with pencils by Dan Jurgens.
In that storyline, 10 years in the future a DC hero killed every other hero on Earth; and 40 years after that, ruled the planet as the mysterious, armor-clad Monarch. A new hero ultimately named Waverider traveled back in time to 1991 to figure out Monarch’s identity, and change the timeline. However, “Armageddon 2001” is probably better remembered for what didn’t happen in the comic. In the real world, the identity of Monarch was supposed to be revealed as the hero Captain Atom; but when fans figured out the mystery too quickly, the ending was changed to a new hero, Hawk (who is currently in use over on HBO Max’s Titans), which… Didn’t make a lot of sense.
That all said, the logline for The Flash‘s Armageddon storyline teases something very different:
A powerful alien threat arrives on Earth under mysterious circumstances and Barry (Grant Gustin), Iris (Candice Patton) and the rest of Team Flash are pushed to their limits in a desperate battle to save the world. But with time running out, and the fate of humanity at stake, Flash and his companions will also need to enlist the help of some old friends if the forces of good are to prevail.
Will the alien threat turn out to be Monarch? And if so, will Wallace and company change up his identity at the last second? We’ll just have to wait until November to find out.
