Warning: SPOILERS for The Flash episode “A New World, Part One” are ahead!
Last week’s episode of The Flash saw Matt Letscher returning as Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. Reverse-Flash, specifically at the point in his life when he killed Barry Allen’s mother, Nora. “A New World, Part One” brought the sinister speedster’s storyline full circle to where we found him in Season 1, and with The Flash Season 8 having ended with the older Thawne’s death, one wouldn’t be faulted for thinking we were done with the character. But not so, as it’s been confirmed that Tom Cavanagh will be back as his version of Reverse-Flash before the final season is over.
The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace informed EW that Cavanagh will reprise his version of Eobard Thawne for the series finale, “A New World, Part Four,” which airs on The CW on May 24. Although Letscher portrayed Thawne in his original form, Cavanagh has appeared more often as the character with his Harrison Wells visage. Wallace had this to say (prior to the writers strike unfolding) about the actor coming back before The Flash concludes its run:
This is Barry Allen's final race, so you can't tell that story without including his most infamous adversary: The Reverse-Flash. And having brilliantly played the character since season 1, bringing Tom back as our show concludes its run was always part of the plan. Tom's exciting portrayal of Eobard Thawne has been unforgettable for nine years, and fans will be delighted to know that he's brought that same wonderful intensity to our finale, too.
Tom Cavanagh has been around The Flash for its entirety, serving as main cast members for the first six seasons, as well as the first few episodes of Season 7 before leaving the full-time gig. Along with the disguised Eobard Thawne, he brought various versions of Harrison Wells from across the multiverse, most notably Harry Wells from Earth-2, HR Wells from Earth-19, Sherloque Wells from Earth-221 and Nash Wells from a never-identified Earth. However, regarding his version of Thawne, the villain killed Earth-1’s Harrison Wells (though he was resurrected early into Season 7) and stole his appearance so he could accelerate the creation of Central City’s particle accelerator, which in turn led to Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen become The Flash years earlier. Despite the Scarlet Speedster being his arch-nemesis, Thawne did this because of his own reduced speed and needing Barry to help him get back to his own time period.
As indicated earlier, Tom Cavanagh’s Reverse-Flash was seen perishing in The Flash Season 8 finale, as he was wiped from the timeline, seemingly for good, while he was fighting Barry Allen as the avatar for the Negative Forces. So going into The Flash’s final episode, it’s unclear if the Eobard we’ll be seeing has been resurrected, or if it’s a younger version of the character who’s been plucked from the past. It’s also worth mentioning that “A New World, Part One” featured the return of Rick Cosnett’s Eddie Thawne, Eobard’s ancestor who sacrificed himself in the Season 1 finale to erase Reverse-Flash from existence, though that proved to be temporary. Although we’ve reunited with Eddie before in flashbacks, trips to the past and other strange occurrences, this appears to be Eddie fully alive again, and it seems like he’s on the path to becoming Cobalt Blue. So it’s not unreasonable to think he’ll be involved with, if not directly responsible for Eobard’s return.
All will be revealed when The Flash’s series finale airs in a few weeks at its usual time slot, 8 pm ET. Until then, keep track of what other programming is currently available to watch with our 2023 TV schedule.
