The first look at the DC and Arrowverse "Armageddon" villain, Despero, has been revealed in new images from The Flash. With the Arrowverse continuing their crossover tradition this year after the Covid-19 pandemic forced them to skip the event last season, producers are excited to show audiences what they have in store this year. But whether Despero will live up to the crossover villains of past years is the real question.
The Arrowverse began its crossover tradition back in the 2014-2015 season in the 2-night event, "Flash Vs. Arrow," which spanned across the Arrow and The Flash series. In the years since, as the universe expanded, the crossovers grew to include other series including Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and Black Lightning. The last big crossover event, "Crisis on Infinite Earths," which also served as the closing chapter for the Arrowverse's flagship series, Arrow, featured the most powerful villain to date, the Anti-Monitor. In addition to killing Arrow's hero Oliver Queen, "Crisis" reset the timeline and merged all the Arrowverse shows into one universe, Earth Prime, a new status quo which all the shows adapted to last season.
In a new EW interview with The Flash showrunner, Eric Wallace, new images show The Flash facing DC villain, Despero, in a first look at the Arrowverse "Armageddon" event. While Despero may not look like his comic-counterpart in the images, Wallace warns, "Be careful what you see. Your eyes can sometimes deceive you," potentially hinting that the Despero seen in the images is merely a human disguise. When asked about the choice of Despero for the crossover event, Wallace went on to explain his reasoning. Check out the images and read Wallace's explanation below:
I wanted to put a truly classic DC villain in this five part event that I knew fans would get excited about," says Wallace. "Also, and I can't say too much without revealing too much of the story, there's a certain element to the story itself that involves the powerset of Despero, [which] makes him the perfect fit for the story."
Despero was originally created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky in 1960, a three-eyed alien who often went up against the Justice League of America. His powers included super-strength and powerful psychic abilities, making him more than a match for his enemies, and also making him an ideal choice to fight multiple Arrowverse heroes. While Wallace promises they they "have their own take on the character," in general, the Arrowverse has always been good at adapting DC comics characters for the small screen in a way that works for the story.
The return of the Arrowverse crossover this year has a large burden on it, especially now that The Flash is the flagship series of the DC-CW shows. After so many years building up to "Crisis" and the feeling that so many stories culminated during that crossover, it will be interesting to see how the creatives are going to raise the stakes from the regular storylines now. Conversely, it will be interesting to see if they are going to start setting up a new major plotline similar to "Crisis." Either way, fans are sure to be excited when "Armageddon" premieres on November 16 to kick off the 8th season of The Flash.
SOURCE: EW