For Arrowverse fans, it’s a recurring gag that you can blame Barry Allen constantly changing the timeline for basically anything going wrong. Wake up as a completely different person? Blame Barry. You’ve got superpowers now and your life’s bad? Blame Barry. The multiverse is in danger? Blame Barry, even if that’s just the movie version. And what’s the inciting incident for next week’s “Armageddon” crossover? Take a guess.
In an interview with TV Line, Grant Gustin discussed how his Scarlet Speedster would cross paths with the crossover’s villain, Tony Curran as Despero. After the past seven seasons, Barry’s “leveled up” significantly for season eight and can handle old foes like the Royal Flush Gang no problem, but then Despero shows up and claims that Barry’s gotta die to prevent some bad shit. “Barry tries to tell Despero that this is just not possible,” Gustin says, “but there’s enough evidence that Despero gives to leave Barry pretty concerned that this future is something that might end up happening.”
Is the evidence half of The Flash’s existence? From the aforementioned examples to relatively small changes like erasing the birth of John Diggle’s daughter Sara or becoming his own nemesis, Barry changes the timeline all the time...line. (At this point, Barry could probably sneeze and cause an earthquake.) In any case, Despero’s dead set on killing Barry to cut that event off at the pass, and that means calling in some old friends to help with the new baddie.
Starting off the round of guest stars will be Brandon Routh’s lovable Legend of Tomorrow Ray Palmer, who had his first crossover on The Flash. “That was fun, because it’s just two old friends catching up for a while, until Despero shows up.” Once Ray leaves, other heroes like Cress Williams’ Black Lightning, Javicia Leslie’s Batwoman, and Mia Smoak’s Green Arrow will join the fray. Gustin promises that though the five-week event is billed under The Flash, the appearance from other characters should help it feel like a real crossover, just like the old days. “It’s not just standalones. We’re going to see a lot of different characters in the same episodes in the same scenes at the same time.”
“Armageddon” carries its own importance beyond its weighty title, as it’s the first full blown crossover for the Arrowverse since the pandemic. Since the schedules of five different shows didn’t need to be balanced, things were easier for Gustin, though not by much, especially since he had to miss two weeks after the birth of his child. “It was kind of the most challenging stretch of Flash I’ve had since season one,” he recalls. “My schedule was jam-packed for about six weeks. But it was cool — it definitely felt like a crossover event, but it all took place “at home” for us.”
The Flash’s “Armageddon” crossover will begin on November 16.
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