Warning: spoilers for The Flash Season 1 finale are ahead!
After months of manipulating Barry Allen and causing terror as the Reverse-Flash (not to mention everything he did before he arrived in the present), Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. faux Harrison Wells, finally got what was coming to him on The Flash Season 1 finale. After his attempt to return his home time period was thwarted, Eobard nearly killed Barry Allen until Eddie Thawne killed himself, resulting in Eobard being wiped from existence. However, things are rarely as they seem to be on The Flash, and though Eobard might be gone forever (emphasis on the word ‘might’), this isn’t the last we’ve seen of actor Tom Cavanagh, as executive producer Andrew Kreisberg has revealed that Cavanagh will be returning for Season 2.
Tom Cavanagh will be back. That is not in question. Tom Cavanagh will continue to be a regular.
Unfortunately, Kreisberg didn’t elaborate to THR on what Cavanagh’s role on the series will be, which isn’t a clear-cut answer given what went down in the finale. Before we start speculating, let’s look back at what happened in “Fast Enough.” After Barry decided not to save his mother in the past, he returned the present and destroyed Eobard’s time machine so he couldn’t return to the future. Furious, Thawne nearly killed Barry until Eddie shot himself. With Eddie dead, the Thawne lineage doesn’t continue, meaning that Eobard is never born and thus can’t exist. This also resulted in Thawne reverting to his original appearance, as played by Matt Letscher (as seen below), before disappearing.
So where does that leave us on who Cavanagh is playing? Well, it could be that Eobard wasn’t truly wiped from existence, and will somehow return in Season 2 to antagonize Barry and the other members of Team Flash. On the other hand, perhaps the actor will be playing the real Harrison Wells. Eobard murdered the actual Wells in 2000 to take his identity and speed up the construction of the particle accelerator. If Eobard was never born, that means that Wells was never killed, and he could be living a normal life in the present.
Then of course, there’s all those alternate timelines and universes out there where another version of Reverse-Flash is running around, so during the show’s exploration of those other realities, this other yellow-garbed speedster may meet the main timeline’s Flash and begin feuding with him. There are so many options, and all of them involve complicated sci-fi tropes!
We’ll find out who Cavanagh will be playing when The Flash returns for Season 2 in the fall.
