When The Flash Returns, It’s Bringing Some Friends

The Flash is about to become one of the longest-running DC/CW shows around now, as Supergirl prepares to bid farewell with its final sixth season. But when The Flash returns, it’s doing so in speedster style to kick off a major event that ties together DC shows past and present.

Dubbed Armageddon, the five episodes opening season eight will see Team Flash and the rest of planet Earth threatened by an alien invasion that pushes Barry to his limits. Realizing that he can’t face this new threat alone, Barry and Iris roll out their suitably epic-sized contacts list and recruit some old friends to chip in: Javicia Leslie’s Batwoman, Cress Williams’ Black Lightning, Supergirl’s Chyler Leigh as the Sentinel, Arrow’s Kat McNamara as Mia Queen, Crisis on Infinite Earth’s Osric Chau as Ryan Choi, and former Legends of Tomorrow star (and OK, Superman too I guess) Brandon Routh as the Atom.

“Simply put, these are going to be some of the most emotional Flash episodes ever. Plus, there are some truly epic moments and huge surprises that await our fans,” Flash producer Eric Wallace said in a statement (via Collider). “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 Arrowverse fans, old and new.”

It’s not just heroes returning, either: longtime CW/DC stalwarts Neal McDonough and Tom Cavanagh will also return in Armageddon, reprising their roles as Damien Darhk and Eobard Thawne (a.k.a. the Reverse Flash), respectively. It’s the first time since Crisis on Infinite Earths that the CW’s DC shows have had a major crossover like this, after a previously planned team-up that would’ve incorporated Superman & Lois as well as Batwoman last year was scrapped due to covid-19’s impacts on production. Perhaps telling then that the events of Armageddon, instead of playing out across multiple shows, will strictly be confined to The Flash—but hopefully it means it can avoid some of the issues past DC/CW crossovers have had where individual episodes have to feel like episodes of “their” show more than they do parts of a larger story, too.

Armageddon will kick off The Flash’s eighth season when it hits the CW on November 16.

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