The Flash: All 16 versions of Harrison Wells ranked from worst to best

2. Harrison Wells / Eobard Thawne

The mystery surrounding the Man in the Yellow Suit in The Flash season 1 ran parallel to the mystery surrounding Harrison Wells. One was an infamous DC Comics villain from the future, the other an original creation for the show. Could they be one and the same? Yes and no; the answer was much more complex than we could have dreamed.

The Scarlet Speedster’s archenemy travelled back to the past to kill Barry Allen’s mother. When he accidentally got stranded there, he assumed Harrison Wells’ identity, killing the poor man in the process. And from there, he put a decade-long plan in motion to help The Flash get his speed so that he could get back to the future. Along the way, he befriended him and even grew to care for him, but not nearly as much as he grew to care for Cisco Ramon.

He trained Barry to become the hero that Central City needed, knowingly helping his nemesis succeed. It’s a complex game that only the greatest of villains could accomplish, and believe us when we say that the Reverse-Flash is among the greatest. Tom Cavanagh’s performance sold it as well, with his firm but loving approach as the Wells wannabe making us all grow quite fond of him, and his subsequent outing as the revealed Reverse-Flash being nothing short of chilling.

Eobard Thawne’s masquerade as Harrison Wells made him one of television’s most compelling villains, and it was a rollercoaster ride to watch it unfold on a weekly basis.