Why the Arrowverse's Armageddon Event Is Limited Only to The Flash - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Next season The Flash will see a new Arrowverse crossover event in the form of "Armageddon," but the story will be handled differently from previous crossovers on the network. Instead of being spread across various TV shows, "Armageddon" will have its story told through five episodes of The Flash. Perhaps a more logical and economical form of storytelling, there are other reasons behind this decision.

The lack of a massive Arrowverse crossover stems from continued shooting restrictions, as well as a network still reeling from the huge Crisis event. There are still several heroes teaming up against a massive threat, but the full on scope is somewhat different this time around. Here's an official look at why The Flash is the only show involved in "Armageddon" and why it's a logical narrative choice.

Why Armageddon Is Just On The Flash

The Flash Season 8 five-part event series titled Armageddon

Officially, "Armageddon" is not a real crossover event in the same vein as Invasion or Crisis on Infinite Earths, as outlined by showrunner Eric Wallace. Instead, it simply features several other heroes showing up on The Flash in order to team up with him. The biggest reason for the lack of a huge Arrowverse crossover that pulls in the entire cast from various shows is the COVID-19 pandemic protocols. They have impacted what can be done with filmmaking, namely in terms of how many cast members can be in a scene or how they can interact with each other.

Shows like The Flash, with their large casts and characters with physical powers, have definitely taken a bigger hit with these protocols, and have had to be reconfigured from the ground up in order to accommodate delays and production shut downs. While things have ramped back up a bit toward normal, epic crossovers with overstuffed casts are still out of the question, as Wallace told Deadline.

"DEADLINE: Are you planning a crossover event for the end of this year?"

"WALLACE: No. At least, not at this point. There are still a lot of Covid protocols in place, which limit a lot of the things we can do as a production. However, with this five-part event, we want to deliver the same feeling to the audience that you would get with a crossover kind of story. That’s really the goal here, to give them something that’s not just an ordinary season premiere—something special, [in terms of] the guest stars that will be joining us, but also in the story that we’re telling. It is a little bit bigger than usual for The Flash, which was very exciting. I think it’ll give people that sense of scope that you sometimes feel—both emotionally and in the action sequences—with a crossover, without actually having 20 characters in one scene."

"DEADLINE: So, the special event is a temporary replacement for the standard Arrowverse crossover, necessitated by Covid restrictions?"

"WALLACE: Exactly, and don’t get me wrong. We’d all love to do a traditional crossover, but we’re just not there yet. With Covid protocols and things, it’s just not possible."

Scaling Back the Arrowverse

There's also the fact that it still might be too soon for such a huge crossover in the Arrowverse given that the last event of that scale was none other than Crisis on Infinite Earths. That crossover hopped from continuity to continuity, seeing the worlds of various DC Comics TV shows and movies intermingle in some capacity. It was essentially the Arrowverse equivalent of Avengers: Endgame, and the universe logically had to get back a sense of status quo before diving into anything even remotely resembling the reality bending crossover.

Nothing would've even seemed close to the threat of the Anti-Monitor afterward, so waiting a few years for a new crossover was just logical. Even before the current production woes, this was the plan for the Arrowverse, especially since the universe's original show came to an end right after Crisis. Hopefully the "Armageddon" event can succeed in delivering the same level of fun and excitement to fans that the major crossovers had, as it's likely the closest thing to a big event that the Arrowverse will get for a while.

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Timothy Donohoo (1194 Articles Published)

Timothy Blake Donohoo is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he majored in Communication and minored in Creative Writing. A professional freelance writer and marketing expert, he’s written marketing copy and retail listings for companies such as Viatek. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, playing video games, watching documentaries and catching up on the latest Vaporwave and Electro-Swing musical releases.