The CW today released the first trailer for the upcoming eighth season of The Flash. The one-minute promo is largely a teaser trailer for the Armageddon event, which will see The Flash team with heroes from across the Arrowverse for a five-part storyline. The promo offered a look at the heroes the fastest man alive will partner with, as well as a first look at actor Tony Curran as the event’s villain, Despero.
It looks like The Flash (Grant Gustin) is going to once again be faced with a countdown to doomsday, as Despero (Curran) gives him seven days before promising to destroy his world. Barry will convene members of the Justice League, which formed at the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, to help face the threat. Among the guest-heroes who will appear during the event are Black Lightning (Cress Williams), Batwoman (Javicia Leslie), the Green Arrow of 2049 (Katherine McNamara), The Atom (Brandon Routh), Sentinel (Chyler Leigh), and Ryan Choi (Osiric Chou).
The Arrowverse’s Despero lacks some of the villain’s defining characteristics from the comics — namely the head fin, third eye, and deep purple skin. Curran here looks almost like a Khan-style warlord, which fits the character’s backstory and role on his home planet of Kalanor. A quick shot in the trailer shows Despero playing chess, and he says ‘Checkmate’ to Barry at one point, both nice references to his first appearance in Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs‘s Justice League of America #1.
With no Arrowverse crossover in the 2020-2021 season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trailer for The Flash season 8 is a nice reminder of how much fun it can be when the heroes from across the different CW series get together. It’s also the first time we’ve seen Williams’s Black Lightning, McNamara’s Green Arrow, or Routh’s The Atom in some time, as all three of them are returning after having left shows that are still airing or having completed the runs of their own series.
Armageddon Part 1, the season premiere of The Flash season 8, airs on Tuesday, November 16th on The CW.
