Well, well, well(s)… Guess who didn’t get erased from time after all! That’s right, despite having his ancestor kill himself in The Flash‘s first season finale, Tom Cavanagh will in fact be returning to the series next year. However, whether or not he’ll show up as Eobard Thawne or Harrison Wells (or hell, even both) remains a mystery.
The surprising news comes from series executive producer Andrew Kreisberg, who told THR the following:
“Tom Cavanagh will be back. That is not in question. Tom Cavanagh will continue to be a regular.”
This is a bit of a head-scratcher given the character’s fate in the finale. As I mentioned before, his ancestor, Eddie Thawne, committed suicide in order to save Iris and the rest of the STAR Labs team from the Reverse Flash. Since the Thawne bloodline grinds to a sudden halt with Eddie’s death, Eobard therefore cannot exist, and literally disappears from existence after losing the appearance of Harrison Wells and once again resembling his true self.
The full ramifications of Eddie’s sacrifice remain unclear; it could mean that we’re in store for some Earth-shattering changes to the status quo next season if the writers decide to stick to some straight-forward time travel rules. If Eobard never exists, then it means that he cannot travel back in time to kill Barry’s mother, which means that Barry never lives with the Wests and may never even become The Flash. It also means that Harrison Wells is never killed by an Eobard who’s trapped in time and desperate to cause a particle accelerator explosion.
So, could Cavanagh actually play the real Harrison Wells next year? It’s certainly possible. In fact, anything is possible now that time travel is fully in play and that the Multiverse is expected to enter the equation – we could very well meet a Harrison Wells or Eobard Thawne from another timeline or dimension next season.
Needless to say, there are some big, exciting things planned for season two, though we unfortunately won’t know what any of them are until later this year. In the meantime, let us know your theories about how Tom Cavanagh returns to The Flash in the comments below.