The Flash is currently midway through its eighth season, and the narrative of the show has given fans a lot to process, especially as the long-term future of the series continues to be speculated about. Between the “Armageddon” crossover event and the return of various characters, there have definitely been some noteworthy moments, which have remixed DC Comics lore in the process. The series’ latest episode, “Resurrection”, took that even further, directly alluding to — and maybe even setting up — an iconic DC Comics event. Major spoilers for Season 8, Episode 11 of The Flash, “Resurrection”, below! Only look if you want to know!
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The episode dealt with the return of Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell), who has been returning and feeding off of people’s grief as the Black Flame. As Team Flash soon realized, Ronnie was doing so in hopes of reuniting with Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), who he believed could make him whole again. In order to do that, Team Flash would need to reverse-engineer part of the technology that turned Ronnie into Firestorm all those years ago — which would potentially bring him back to life in the process.
Midway through the episode, Chester Runk (Brandon McKnight) and Allegra Garcia (Kayla Compton) debated about helping revive Ronnie, as both had a wildly different outlook on using the technology to do so. Allegra argued that death is and should be permanent, and that her grandmother used to refer to it as “noche mas negra” — a.k.a. the “blackest night.”
This line immediately caught the attention of DC Comics fans, especially given Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis’ 2009 storyline of the same name. The comic version of Blackest Night saw members of the Green Lantern Corps — and eventually, much of the DC universe — face off against Nekron, a physical manifestation of death who hoped to destroy all life and emotion. In his crusade, Nekron enlisted an army of previously-deceased heroes, as well as heroes who had died and already resurrected, and turned them into members of the Black Lantern Corps. This ended up encompassing a number of heroes, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and Firestorm.
It’s safe to assume that The Flash wouldn’t be able to completely utilize the Green Lantern mythos, between John Diggle’s Green Lantern storyline not yet fully coming to fruition, and a Green Lantern television show being in the works for HBO Max. Still, the deliberate mention of “Blackest Night” feels intentional in some way, to the point where it might not be surprising to see Nekron or other elements of the comic event make their way onto the show. After all, we know Ronnie isn’t the only previously-dead character confirmed to return to this season of The Flash, and if the show is really nearing its conclusion, the very concept of Blackest Night could allow for cameo appearances from a number of returning characters.
What do you think of The Flash potentially teasing Blackest Night? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
The Flash airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
