Harrison Wells has been a fixture of The Flash TV series throughout its run, but there have been many of them. Which of them stands tall as the best?
There have been many characters who made their way into viewers’ hearts throughout the nine-season run of The Flash. There have also been many versions of the same character who did the same. There is no greater example of that than Harrison Wells.
The Flash may have featured many iconic characters from the pages of DC Comics, but Harrison Wells was not one of them. No, he was an original creation for the show and that created an air of mystery around him, as fans attempted to figure out his intentions.
While that version of Wells turned out to be the Reverse-Flash in disguise, we have met many variations of the character over the years (including the real original one!). Yes, Tom Cavanagh got to show us his performance skills a great deal as he spent the majority of his seven-season run on the show playing multiple versions of Wells (including a whole council of them at one point!), and he was always a joy to watch in the role(s), giving his all to each and every one of them.
It’s hard to imagine what the show’s run would have looked like without Harrison Wells. We loved them. All of them. But some versions stood out more than others. So without further ado, let’s rank all of The Flash‘s Wells from worst to best.
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16. Hells Wells
Hells Wells wasn’t long for The Flash. He made a brief appearance at the beginning of season 3 when Harry was attempting to help Team Flash recruit his replacement. He was the first hopeful of the bunch (or at least the first one we saw) and, well, he was the first one to get swiped off-screen.
He was clearly very smart because he cracked the equation Harry created (that only a Wells could crack) but his manners let him down. As did his refusal to share why he earned a nickname as eyebrow-raising as “Hells Wells”.
15. H. Lothario Wells
One of the original members of the Council of Wells, H. Lothario Wells makes his debut in the season 4 episode “When Harry Met Harry” (along with some of the next Wells on this list). A real playboy, he often made those around him uncomfortable with his innuendos and flirtations.
He was one of the multiple Wells that got kicked off the Council. However, he did ultimately join the Council of Harrisons because of their more, uh, human approach.
If you ever wondered what Tom Cavanagh might sound like doing an impression of Matthew McConaughey, H. Lothario Wells is the answer.
14. Harrison “Orson” Wells
The very last completely new version of Harrison Wells we ever met on The Flash, Harrison “Orson” Wells arrived in the season 7 premiere as one of the many Wells whose particles were trapped inside Nash’s mind (because after the Crisis, Nash was the last remaining Wells in the multiverse).
An actor, writer, and director, he is a clear nod to Orson Welles. Other than that, we don’t know much about him, but Tom Cavanagh was as captivating as always in the role, and it was nice to see him introduce one last new Wells before his departure from the show as a full-time cast member.
“And scene” indeed Mr. Wells.
13. Mime Wells
Many of the Harrison Wells you’re about to meet on this list certainly know how to get your attention in a very short amount of time, but perhaps none did it quite so effectively as Mime Wells.
We don’t know anything about him. We don’t know what earth he comes from. We just know that he was so darn enthusiastic at the prospect of joining Team Flash to replace Earth-2’s Harry Wells.
He didn’t, however, make a good impression on Harry, who opined that “you can’t trust a mime”.
Oh the adventures he could have had with Team Flash.
12. Wells The Grey
The multiverse has all the Wells. Like all the Wells. Every kind of him, it seems. That includes a mystical wizard from Earth-13 calling himself Wells The Grey.
If you’re thinking “but wait, that sounds a lot like Gandalf the Grey”, you would be right. It’s basically just Tom Cavanagh in a Gandalf cosplay. And you know what? He gives it his everything, ensuring that his seven seconds on screen are very memorable.
He was deemed too eccentric for the Council of Wells and that’s a shame because he was a hoot. Oh the adventures he could have been part of, too!
At least he made a brief comeback when his particles found their way into Barry Allen’s mind (making for a larger-than-life performance from Grant Gustin).
11. Wells 2.0
Easily the most terrifying version of Harrison Wells (outside of the Reverse-Flash), Wells 2.0 appeared in just one episode of The Flash and he made a lasting impression. A cyborg from the apocalyptic world of Earth-22, it was revealed that man had merged with machine there and it showed.
With tubes and a cybernetic red eye protruding from his face, he’s quite the sight to behold, and Cavanagh approached the character in an intentionally robotic manner. He was direct, blunt, and dry, which made some of his lines pretty funny.
What wasn’t funny was the fact that he might have eaten his earth’s version of Cisco Ramon.
10. Sonny Wells
The Council of Wells might have been good for their knowledge but one thing that its members often overlooked was the power of emotions. Thus, the Council of Harrisons was formed, and on it were members that were kicked out of the former council for their more emotional approach.
One of the first members of it we met was the quirky Harrison “Sonny” Wells. To say he was a quirky character would be an understatement. An apparent New Yorker, Sonny called things like he saw them. He could be direct in a way and certainly knew how to get your attention, but he was also friendly and kind, urging Harry to share his feelings.
If you were in doubt of Sonny’s nature, just remember his catchphrase is “Be Kind, Rewind” – something that apparently came from his earth that still uses VHS as its primary media system.
9. Steampunk Wells
Anyone who greets you with “Salutations!” is going to get your attention. That’s certainly what Earth-17’s Harrison Wells did when he introduced himself to Harry and Team Flash in the hopes of becoming their new Wells.
Boasting an enthusiastic approach, British accent, and steampunk attire, this Wells did a pretty good job of selling himself to those on “Terra-Prime” but for whatever reason, it just wasn’t to be, as Harry moved on from him pretty quickly.
8. H.P. Wells
Harrison “H.P.” Wells made his presence felt in the fourth season of The Flash when Cisco recruited the council of Harrisons to help Harry. As we’ve mentioned already, the Council of Harrisons was known for being more in touch with their feelings than the Council of Wells, and you might not find a better example of that than H.P. Wells.
A French poet, he’s an incredibly cheery character with quite the zest for life. He’s very warm and funny at the same time, choosing to recite a poem as his way of introducing himself and attempting to get Harry to open up and share his feelings.
It was honestly a joy to watch H.P. work, and Cavanagh was clearly having the time of his life playing him.
Oh, and the poem he recited, “Bread”, is hilarious.
7. Harrison “Wolfgang” Wells
Harrison “Wolfgang” Wells originated from Earth-12 and let us tell you, he’s a character. The owner of four PhDs and an author, he first appeared briefly in the fourth season as a member of Harry’s Council of Wells.
Moody, dramatic, and as arrogant as they come, he had little time for questions and was very unpleasant to be around. That is, unless you’re part of The Flash Family. When he resurfaced in season 5, he was so excitable to meet Barry, Iris, and Nora West-Allen, and those two minutes in which Cavanagh brought him to life were absolutely exhilarating to watch.
The star really had fun with this one, and even though Wolfgang Wells didn’t appear all that often, he always made a memorable impression.
6. Sherloque Wells
Harrison “Sherloque” Wells was undoubtedly the most divisive of the main Wells to turn up on The Flash. A new arrival in the show’s fifth season, he was a Master Detective recruited by Team Flash from Earth-221 to track down and unmask the villainous Cicada, who had just launched a murderous rampage on all the metahumans in Central City.
What made him the perfect candidate for the job was the fact that he had already unmasked many Cicadas across the multiverse. According to the original timeline, he was also destined to catch Earth-1’s Cicada pretty quickly, but the changes caused by Nora West-Allen’s arrival in the present upended things. It didn’t, however, prevent him from doing his job, as he eventually helped Team Flash stop the villain.
The thing that made him divisive was the way he conducted himself around the team. While the show never toyed with the possibility of Sherloque being evil, he was much sharper than all of the previous full-time versions of the character. He was less concerned with making friends and more concerned with getting the job done. Some took issue with his off-the-books investigation into Nora’s arrival, and while his suspicions were spot on he ended up causing a lot of West-Allen family conflict.
Sherloque was definitely an acquired taste, but he provided the show with a lot of humor – something that was necessary in a season that often went round in circles. His bonds with Ralph Dibny, Cecile Horton, and the friendships he eventually formed with the rest of the team were also very heartfelt.
5. Nash Wells / Pariah
Nash Wells was the last new full-time Wells that we met on the show and he certainly knew how to make a memorable first impression. An Indiana Jones-like character, he was confrontational from the off, clashing with those around him and not in the mood for making friends with Team Flash. The reason being that he was tracking The Monitor. Or at least he thought he was.
The reveal that Nash was tracking the Anti-Monitor (and single-handedly responsible for the Crisis after freeing him from his cage) was a huge one that changed the course of his role on the show. It was also another really clever way of writing the Arrowverse’s own Harrison Wells character into a different role, as Nash ended up becoming Pariah – an important character in the Crisis On Infinite Earths comic forced to bear witness to the damage inflicted by The Anti-Monitor.
That changed much of Nash’s arc as he attempted to redeem himself for his past actions throughout the remainder of the season. That’s when we saw his real potential as a character. Through his bond with Allegra Garcia to him powering the artificial Speed Force, Nash gave us some incredibly endearing moments throughout his time on the show and the fact that we were all tearing up at his sacrifice just highlighted how much of an impression he made on us all in such a short amount of time.
4. Timeless Wells / Original Wells
While it was great to see The Flash introduce various versions of Harrison Wells from different earths over the years, there was always the question of what the original one could have been like if he hadn’t been killed by Eobard Thawne. Those questions were answered in season 7 when the character was surprisingly resurrected as “Timeless Wells”.
The original Harrison, Timeless Wells was resurrected by the universe as a balancing act after Nash’s death. Yes, he still died at the hands of the Reverse-Flash on that fateful night in 2000, but he was unable to change his fate, meaning that he could relive any moment he wanted in the 92-year lifespan he was supposed to live.
His comeback was a necessary one as the universe needed a Wells, which meant that he got Nash’s memories (and all the others Wells’ consciousnesses which lived inside his head). Team Flash also needed a genius to help them get Barry his speed back, and introducing the original version of the character served that purpose well, while also giving Tom Cavanagh the chance to dive into the original Wells before his full-time departure.
We didn’t get to know much about the original Harrison Wells outside of a few season 1 flashbacks, so it was a gift getting to spend time with him in seasons 7 and 9. We can only imagine how incredible it would have been to see Cavanagh play the role full-time for at least one season.
3. H.R. Wells
Oh, H.R. Our beloved, sweet, H.R.
By the time season 3 of The Flash had rolled around, we already had a villain in disguise as a loving Wells, and a heroic Wells with a moody disposition that made it hard to get along with him. The writers played into the mystery of Wells once again with H.R. Wells, a man who claimed to be able to help Team Flash but had other motives. The twist this time was that he wasn’t a bad man, just not the genius he claimed to be.
H.R. was a novelist from Earth-19 on the hunt for material for his next novel. He was also on the run from an interdimensional bounty hunter. It was an unexpected twist, for sure, but one that ended up becoming a real delight, because the character himself was a delight.
H.R. didn’t know what he was talking about half of the time, but he did his best to prove himself a worthy ally and friend to Team Flash, assisting them in stopping Savitar and ultimately saving Iris’ life. His sacrifice in the season 3 finale is one of the most emotional moments in The Flash‘s whole run, and we still haven’t gotten over it. But we’re so thankful that H.R. showed up on Earth-1 and gave Team Flash one of their biggest victories and greatest friends.
He may not have thought himself to be a genius, but H.R. is the man who single-handedly outwitted the one villain the rest of the team could not. He wasn’t just smart in his own way, he was a hero, and we’ll always love him for that (and his lovable personality).
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.
1. Harry Wells
Harrison “Harry” Wells from Earth-2 holds the distinct honor of being the only version of the character to appear in two seasons on a full-time basis. Originally introduced as one of the many Earth-2 doppelgangers in season 2, he also returned in season 4 as the team needed a genius to take on the mind of The Thinker. We’re so glad he’s the one to hold that honor because he is, without question, the best version of Harrison Wells we ever met.
Harry’s journey was all about accepting help from others even when he didn’t want it. He was grouchy, easily frustrated, and didn’t care that Team Flash had formed a bond with an evil version of him, because even though he was a good man, he had no intention of being their friend. And then he started to care about them. He formed such beautiful friendships with Cisco, with Barry, with Caitlin, and with many of the people that Thawne had burned with his villainy, proving that Harrison Wells was capable of being a good person.
The show played into the uncertainty surrounding Harry’s arrival so well. Audiences had to warm up to him and they did; they really did. He was a man who chose his head over his heart every time, but by the time of his eventual full-time departure in season 4, his heart had won out.
Harry was a lovable rogue all of the time, but he left Team Flash much better off as he had formed some incredible connections, strengthened his own bond with daughter Jesse, and had his heart opened in a way he never thought possible. One of The Flash‘s greatest mistakes was killing off him and Jesse in the Crisis.
We love and miss Harry so much.
Do you have a fave version of Harrison Wells? Do you wish The Flash kept introducing new ones across all of its nine seasons?