The CW's Flash teaming with Black Lightning, Mia Queen, Ray Palmer & more for ‘Armageddon’ crossover event

Like most shows these days, The CW’s long-running Flash series has had its past two seasons somewhat disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s meant limited crossovers, reworked action scenes, and sporadic episode delays. But they’re trying to make up for all the pain and waiting with the kickoff to Season 8 in November.

Dubbed “Armageddon,” TV Line reports the five-part Flash premiere event to launch Season 8 promises to be the biggest crossover fans have seen since the multiverse-shattering chaos of Crisis on Infinite Earths a few years ago. The guest star list is extensive: Legends of Tomorrow alum Brandon Routh is back as The Atom; Cress Williams is back as Black Lightning; Arrow’s Kat McNamara is back as Mia Queen; Crisis on Infinite Earths supporting player Osric Chau is back as Ryan Choi; Supergirl alum Chyler Leigh is crossing over as Sentinel; and Javicia Leslie’s Batwoman will be joining the party, too.

They’ll all be teaming up to take on two of the Arrowverse’s most famed baddies: After exiting Flash as a series regular, Tom Cavanagh will return to play the big bad Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash. He’ll be joined by Neal McDonough, reprising his role as Damien Darhk (a baddie in both Arrow and Legends in past seasons).

As fans are likely ticking off with the line-up, this also welcomes back plenty of fan favorite heroes from shows that have already wrapped in the past year or so. We haven’t seen much of Williams’ Black Lightning since his show ended last season; Chau’s Ryan Choi hasn’t really popped up since the Crisis crossover; Routh’s Atom hasn’t been seen since he exited Legends of Tomorrow as a series regular; and McNamara’s Mia Queen was potentially up for her own spinoff series after Arrow ended — until the network decided to pass and left her hanging in the future all by herself.

Per TV Line, the logline for the event promises: “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.”

The Flash executive producer Eric Wallace wouldn’t reveal too much beyond the plot synopsis, but promised “truly epic moments” and huge surprises” on a scale “bigger and bolder” than a standard episode would bring. Considering the impact the pandemic has had on crossovers across all of the Arrowverse the past two seasons, this looks to be a return to form for fans accustomed to seeing all their favorites rub elbows once every year or so.

Judging by the roster, it also seems like a clever way to side-step some of the problems that have plagued the pandemic planning for any crossover ideas to this point. Since the majority of this cast list is coming from Arrowverse shows that have recently ended, or are ending (except for Batwoman), it doesn’t require nearly as much production and quarantine juggling to get everyone on the same set at the same time without blowing up the schedules for three other shows in the process.

The Flash’s “Armageddon” event kicks off the show’s eighth season on Nov. 16.