The Flash: Reverse-Flash Set To Return Soon?
By Nick Tylwalk
Before anyone gets on me about spoilers, I’d like to point out that episode 11 of Season 2 of The Flash is called “The Reverse-Flash Returns.” So it’s right there for the whole world to see.
Before we discuss his return, a quick review: the Reverse-Flash was the Big Bad of Season 1, and while he was really the time-lost Eobard Thawne, he spent most of the first 23 episodes of The Flash masquerading as Harrison Wells after killing him and assuming Wells’ identity. He helped Barry Allen and his friends at S.T.A.R. Labs because he needed the speed of the Flash — his arch-enemy in the future from which he originally came — to help him return to his own time.
Memorably, he was also the murderer of Barry’s mom, something he did simply because he was angry the Flash prevented him from killing a young Barry, which he wanted to do to prevent there ever being a Flash. Then he had to create the Flash ahead of schedule because he was marooned. Trust me, this all makes sense if you watch the show.
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He would have gotten away with it, too, if not for those meddling kids the heroic self-sacrifice of distant ancestor Detective Eddie Thawne, whose premature death prevented Eobard from ever being born. That would seem to prevent Reverse-Flash from returning, with even The Flash executive producer Todd Helbing calling the villain’s return “impossible” in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Then again, this is a show that featured a voiceover at the beginning of its very first episode that asked viewers to believe in the impossible. The subsequent introduction of both alternate timelines and parallel worlds provide several vehicles from which a Thawne could appear, and Adam Holmes of Cinema Blend even wonders if it could be an imposter. On The Flash, you can’t rule out any of those possibilities.
One thing I wouldn’t expect is that this Reverse-Flash is from Earth 2, since Zoom already calls that world home, and would likely have snuffed out Thawne in his quest to gather all the speed in the multiverse. The Flash returns with new episodes on January 19, meaning that we could see the return of the Reverse-Flash roughly a month from now.
Next: The Flash: Why Won't Barry Allen Tell Patty Spivot the Truth?
Can’t wait!