Harrison Wells

Harrison Wells
Arrowverse character
File:Harrison "Harry" Wells (Tom Cavanagh).jpg Tom Cavanagh as Harrison "Harry" Wells, in season two.
First appearance	The Flash: "Pilot" (1x01) October 7, 2014 (Eobard Thawne's impersonation) "Tricksters" (1x17) March 31, 2015 (Harrison Wells's first actual appearance)
Created by	Greg Berlanti Andrew Kreisberg Geoff Johns
Portrayed by	Tom Cavanagh
In-universe information
Nickname	Earth-2: Harry Earth-19: H.R.
Occupation	Scientist
Affiliation	Team Flash S.T.A.R. Labs
Spouse	Earth-1: Tess Morgan Earth-2: Unnamed wife
Children	Earth-2: Jesse Wells

Harrison Wells is the name of several fictional characters appearing in the CW's television series The Flash, all portrayed by Tom Cavanagh. Created by Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, the character is an original creation for the series, not being based on any existing character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. Most versions of Wells are scientists from parallel universes, each working as the director of S.T.A.R. Labs on their respective Earths.

Cavanagh has received praise from critics and fans for his performances as various versions of the character, particularly for Eobard Thawne (disguised as Earth-1's Wells) and Earth-2's Harry Wells. He has also reprised these two roles in the Arrowverse series Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl.

Fictional character biographies

Harrison Wells is mentioned several times during the second season of Arrow. While Barry Allen is visiting Starling City, he watches a news report about S.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator in which the S.T.A.R. Labs' founder is quoted as promising "a new era of scientific exploration is at hand". Barry listens to another news report about the accelerator and Wells after returning to Central City, just before seeing the now-active accelerator explode and being simultaneously struck by lightning. Weeks later, S.T.A.R. Labs' Starling City facility is being shut down at Wells' directive, as the city has cancelled its lease, and it is revealed that he fired scientist Arthur Light two years prior due to Light's being "a psycho". When equipment is stolen from the warehouse, Felicity Smoak hacks into Wells' private files to gain information on what was taken to assist Team Arrow in their fight against Slade Wilson.

Harrison Wells / Eobard Thawne

Wells makes his on-screen debut in The Flash. In the season one premiere, months after the malfunctioned particle accelerator exploded, he is a wheelchair-using recluse and a pariah among the scientific and business communities. The dark matter energy from the accident has transformed various individuals into metahumans, including Barry. Along with Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow, he helps develop Barry's powers as the Flash and mentors his protégé in pushing the limits as a speedster by helping take down metahuman criminals. Unbeknownst to the others, Wells has secrets: he is faking paralysis, conducts secret tests and surveillance on Barry and other metahumans, and has a hidden room inside S.T.A.R. Labs that contains an AI named Gideon and other futuristic equipment. His inconsistent statements and dubious actions raise suspicions in both Joe West and Barry. Wells ultimately begins harassing and taunting Barry in the guise of the mysterious speedster who killed his mother Nora, whom Cisco later names the Reverse-Flash.

"Wells" is actually Eobard Thawne, Barry's 25th century nemesis and a descendant of Central City police officer Eddie Thawne. Travelling back in time to erase the Flash from history, he murdered Nora and framed Barry's father, Henry. This achieved his goal, but it also severed Thawne's Speed Force connection, stranding him in the 21st century. Thawne then formed a complicated plan to return to his own century: he killed the real Wells and stole his identity, then founded S.T.A.R. Labs and created the particle accelerator to turn Barry into the Flash. As "Wells", he pushed Barry to run faster, hoping to use Barry's Speed Force connection to restore his own speed. Once exposed, Thawne is subdued and incarcerated by Barry with help from Firestorm and Oliver Queen. Thawne offers Barry a choice: showing him how to travel back in time to save his parents from Thawne's actions in exchange for a time sphere so he can return to his time. Barry makes the trip, but ultimately chooses not to save his mother and returns to destroy the sphere. The two speedsters then fight, with Thawne prevailing until Eddie shoots himself, causing Thawne to seemingly be erased from existence. In season two's premiere, it is revealed that Thawne left a will which bequeathed S.T.A.R. Labs to Barry and a video-recorded confession of his murder of Nora, albeit under Wells' name and face.

In season four, a speedster claiming to be Thawne is one of the main antagonists in the "Crisis on Earth-X" crossover along with with the leaders of the Nazi-dominated Earth-X: the Dark Arrow (Oliver's doppelgänger) and Overgirl (Kara Danvers's doppelgänger). When confronting Barry, Thawne states he only resumed Wells's appearance "for old times' sake" and implies that he might not have actually died, due to the vagaries of time travel. Now in league with the Earth-X rulers, he assists them with their plan to save Overgirl's life, along with their intent to invade Earth-1. During their final super-speed confrontation, Barry defeats Thawne, but chooses to spare his life and lets him leave. His allies now dead, Thawne races away, vowing to return in yet another identity.

Harrison Wells (Earth–1)

The true Harrison Wells of Earth-1 appeared in flashbacks during the season one episode "Tricksters". He was an intelligent and ambitious man who was devoted to his wife, Tess Morgan, whom he met when working together as research partners in Maryland. The couple later relocated to Starling City at some point after they married. Wells is first seen at a beach with Tess while being spied on by Thawne, discussing his plan for a chain of independent research laboratories unconnected to government or big business, drawing an initial design sketch on a paper napkin. Wells wanted to name his concept T.E.S.S. ("Technological Engineering Scientific Studies"), but Tess herself opted for "Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories" or S.T.A.R. Labs. Later that night, Tess was killed when Thawne caused their car to crash. Thawne told an injured Wells that his particle accelerator would have been hugely successful in the year 2020 of Thawne's timeline and changed the course of history. Thawne then killed Wells with a futuristic device that allowed him to assume his victim's form and identity. Wells had been a colleague of Mercury Labs' Tina McGee, who always suspected something was off with him ever since Tess died. Team Flash's investigation into Tess' death eventually leads to the discovery of Wells's corpse and Thawne's masquerade.

Harry Wells (Earth–2)

Harrison "Harry" Wells is introduced in season two as the founder and director of S.T.A.R. Labs on Earth-2. He first appears on Earth-1 claiming that he wants to assist Barry Allen's fight against Earth-2 metahumans the speedster called Zoom (serial killer Hunter Zolomon) is forcibly sending to engage the Flash, admitting his part in their creation when Earth-2's S.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator also exploded. Harry is initially distrusted by Team Flash because of Eobard Thawne's prior betrayal, and his safety is often threatened through others mistaking him for his Earth-1 impostor. In actuality, Zoom holds Harry's daughter, Jesse Wells, hostage to extort him into stealing the Flash's speed for Zoom. With Barry unable to beat Zoom for him, Harry complies and does manage to partially steal Barry's speed. But when this endangers Barry and others, he finds he cannot continue and confesses his involvement with Zoom and the reason why. Barry and Cisco Ramon travel to Earth-2 with Harry and rescue Jesse from Zoom's prison; Harry and Jesse subsequently take asylum on Earth-1. After Barry sacrifices his speed powers to Zoom to save Wally West, Harry tries to restore them by recreating the original particle accelerator accident, to disastrous results: Barry is seemingly disintegrated, and Wally and Jesse are bathed in dark matter energy, sending Jesse into a coma. Harry eventually locates Barry inside the Speed Force and brings him back with the help of Cisco and Iris West, and Barry revives Jesse. Harry and Cisco then devise a means to incapacitate the Earth-2 metahumans invading Central City as a beachhead to conquering Earth-1. After Barry defeats Zoom, Harry and Jesse return to Earth-2.

Harry becomes less involved with Team Flash during season three. He tries to get the team to dissuade Jesse, now a speedster, from becoming a superhero, but comes to accept his daughter's intentions. Returning to Earth-2 after helping arrange his replacement on the team, Harry is soon captured and imprisoned by denizens of Gorilla City, but is rescued by Team Flash. When Iris' life is threatened by the speedster Savitar, Harry tries to protect Iris in his lab, only for Savitar to forcibly take Iris back to Earth-1. Following Savitar's death, Harry remains on Earth-1 as a favor when Barry goes into the Speed Force to help stabilize it, but has returned to Earth-2 by season four's premiere for undisclosed reasons; he is, however, one of the scientists who assisted Cisco in developing a means to retrieve Barry from the Speed Force. He returns to reside on Earth-1 after a falling out with Jesse, but later reconciles with her. Harry also aids Team Flash in their fight against Clifford DeVoe / The Thinker, throughout which he struggles with frustration at not being able to anticipate DeVoe and believing that he is just not smart enough. He decides to emulate DeVoe's methods by creating his own intelligence-enhancing "Thinking Cap". During DeVoe's assault on S.T.A.R. Labs, Harry pushes the device past its safety limits. This damages his brain to the point where the more he uses his intellect, the faster he loses it; he soon begins forgetting even rudimentary elements of everyday life and is eventually reduced to babbling. Following DeVoe's death, Team Flash uses a device provided by DeVoe's widow to repair Harry's brain and restore his mind. It is successful to an extent: Harry recovers his normal mental functions, but not his genius or his higher education and knowledge. Undeterred by this development, he is grateful for the insight into other aspects of his personality, and leaves for Earth-2 to be with Jesse after bidding Team Flash a heartfelt farewell.

H.R. Wells (Earth–19)

Harrison "H.R." Wells of Earth-19 is selected by Team Flash as a replacement for Harry Wells in the third season, after having seemingly solved a complicated mathematical equation. They later discover that the overbearingly good-natured H.R. is not really a scientist, despite his professed credentials. Although he did help found S.T.A.R. Labs on Earth-19, it was his partner Randolph Morgan who solved the equation meant for him. H.R. professes to be the "idea guy", the one who creates the plans for others to execute. Over everyone else's protests, Barry suggests letting H.R. stay for a few more weeks to see if they can still work together; otherwise, they will send him back to Earth-19. H.R. strives to prove his worth to the team, and he is generally intelligent and intuitive, which helps the team form plans and battle metahuman criminals. He recognizes the potential worth in everything he encounters, which leads him to begin training the newly-minted speedster Wally West into becoming Kid Flash. Despite the Earth-1 Wells's tainted name, H.R. is able to venture into public using an invention of Morgan's that disguises his appearance holographically in such a way that while Team Flash members see H.R. normally, all others see a projected image of a different face. He also briefly transforms S.T.A.R. Labs into a museum open to the public to generate income for himself and the team.

An aspiring novelist, H.R. begins transmitting fictionalized versions of Team Flash's exploits across the interdimensional barrier, with himself as the protagonist. This allows Earth-19 enforcer Gypsy to locate him; she arrives to take him back to Earth-19 as a wanted felon, as interdimensional travel is a capital offense there. Thwarted by Cisco, Gypsy elects to spare H.R. and falsely claim to have killed him, resulting in H.R. being unable to return home. In an alternate future, Barry discovers that H.R. became a successful novelist on Earth-1. H.R. later meets and falls in love with Tracy Brand, a scientist who Team Flash enlists to help build a device to imprison Savitar. Although Iris' family seek refuge with Harry on Earth-2 for safety, H.R. inadvertently gives away their location to Savitar who then abducts Iris back to Earth-1 and forces Barry to watch her be killed. However, the 'Iris' who dies turns out to really be H.R. Guilt-stricken over endangering Iris, he had managed to locate and free her. But when the pair were pursued by Savitar's ally Killer Frost, H.R. used Morgan's invention to disguise himself as Iris and be killed by Savitar in her place. In her eulogy to him, Iris says that although H.R. had his limits, "when we needed him the most, he was a hero. He was my hero."

Other variants of Wells

Early versions

In season three's "The New Rogues", before returning to Earth-2 with Jesse, Harry suggests that Team Flash replace him with another version of himself from somewhere in the multiverse. In order to locate a suitable candidate, they transmit a message asking for help across the Earths, hidden inside a complex mathematical equation. Several versions of Wells do solve the puzzle and transmit responses, which are reviewed by Cisco, Caitlin and Harry, before H.R. is recruited, over Harry's objections. The variants of Wells considered before H.R. were "Hells Wells", a cowboy from an unspecified Earth; Wells of Earth-17, a British-accented steampunk scientist; and a French-speaking mime artist from another unspecified Earth.

Council of Wells

At the beginning of season four's "When Harry Met Harry...", Harry reveals that he has a circle of "friends", astonishing all the members of Team Flash. However, when he introduces them to Cisco, they are actually other versions of Wells from other Earths. The group, nicknamed the "Council of Wells" by Cisco, consists of Harry; Harrison Wolfgang Wells, a German author and scientist from Earth-12; H. Lothario Wells, a wealthy playboy-scientist from Earth-47; and Wells 2.0., a cyborg from Earth-22. Additionally, during Cisco's initial meeting with the Council, a wizard from Earth-13 named Wells the Grey appears, but is quickly rejected. As the group brainstorms the mystery surrounding Clifford DeVoe, they start bickering due to their egos and clashing personality traits. This irritates Harry to the point of abandoning the whole idea of the Council until Cisco points out that Harry shares many of the same traits as the others; in essence, what he hates about them is what he hates about himself. Harry then adopts a more balanced approach to the Council, which allows them to eventually discern DeVoe's identity and whereabouts.

Council of Harrisons

After Harry is expelled from the Council of Wells in season four's "Harry and the Harrisons" due to his deteriorating intelligence, Cisco forms a new group of Wells he terms the "Council of Harrisons". Along with Harry, this Council includes H. Lothario Wells (also expelled from the Council of Wells); "Sonny" Wells of Earth-24; and Harrison "H.P." Wells, a French poet from Earth-25. More sensitive and empathetically inclined than the Council of Wells, the other Harrisons consider the problem of DeVoe with more of a group therapy approach. When they leave, they appear to have given no real assistance. Harry is angered by this until he realizes, even in his befuddled state, that they have indeed helped by advising him to ascertain DeVoe's underlying psychology and emotions in order to defeat him.

Season 5

A new version of Harrison Wells will be introduced in season five, also portrayed by Tom Cavanagh.

Development

The character of Harrison Wells was created for the CW series The Flash by executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg and DC Comics CCO Geoff Johns, although he is first mentioned in the Arrow season 2 episode "Three Ghosts". While a character named "Dr. Wells" had appeared in "Elevator To Nowhere" a 1980 episode of the ABC animated series Super Friends, and another character with the same name in Flash TV Special #1, a 1991 tie-in comic book to the CBS series The Flash (1990), Johns has stated that Harrison Wells is an original creation for the CW series. On February 10, 2014, Tom Cavanagh was cast in the role, described as "a rock star in the world of physics and the mind and money behind Central City's S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator". This differs from the comics, where S.T.A.R. Labs was founded by Garrison Slate.

Since season 2, Cavanagh has portrayed numerous other versions of the character, primarily "Harry" Wells of Earth-2. He differentiated each version based on character mannerisms, voice, and origin story. Cavanagh has described Thawne/Wells as someone who "seems good but he's bad" and Harry as the opposite. Grant Gustin, who portrays Barry Allen, described Harry as a "douchebag", and Cavanagh said it was his own idea to portray the character as egotistical, despite not being written that way. While Kriesberg described Thawne/Wells as "deadly and scary", he differentiated Harry from him by calling him "a tortured man who's beset with guilt" and loves his daughter. He added, "[Harry is] a jerk, but he's doing everything he's doing because he loves his daughter more than anything in the world." He also insisted that Thawne/Wells was not evil as his affection for Cisco was genuine, and "he has a reason for doing what he's doing and he has an agenda and he thinks of himself as the hero ... bad people are capable of incredible amounts of kindness and generosity." Cavanagh described H.R. as "a bit of a con man ... But I didn't want to repeat myself from last year, so what I thought I would try [to do is play him as] a guy who fills it up with comedy". He said the character was created to bring more "comedic power" to the series in a way that would not undermine its serious narrative.

Regarding the creation of the Council of Wells, Cavanagh recalled, "We had a sprinkling of it when they were on their quest for H.R. Wells last year where we had Hells Wells, Mime Wells, and Steampunk Wells, and so that was just a one-off, but that got everybody’s juices flowing like, ‘If we were to do that, what would that look like with there being a Council of Wells that could convene?' [...] We thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be completely obnoxious and shameless when I get ahold of it,’ and it is proving to be super obnoxious and ultra-shameless in hopefully the most appealing way." The Flash season four showrunner Todd Helbing described the Council of Wells as being "all about intelligence and being the smartest people in the universe" and the Council of Harrisons as its "emo version". Cavanagh described Wolfgang Wells as someone who thinks that "everything that is not German is not good" and Wells 2.0 as a "bad ass from the Outback, who doesn't like anybody". Wells the Grey was modelled after Gandalf, a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth stories, while H. Lothario Wells was inspired by Hugh Hefner.

Reception

Critical response

In her review of the episode "The New Rogues", which features Cavanagh portraying multiple versions of Wells, Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture stated that the various portrayals of Wells "let Tom Cavanagh stretch himself even more as an actor". She did criticize his portrayal of H.R. in the episode "Untouchable", feeling that he was an "annoying character" who was "just another symbol of the show's inability to grow", with his only purpose being to "continue the Harrison Wells mythos." In September 2017, Irina Curovic of Comic Book Resources described Cavanagh's portrayal of all the versions of Wells introduced to that point as "flawless", noting that "Harry was the best fit for team Flash. Not only did he contribute to the team, but he also established meaningful relationships with the members of the team". Adam Holmes of Cinema Blend ranked Harry sixth in his list of "10 Best TV Characters DC Introduced in 2015". On May 22, 2015, Allison Keene of Collider named Cavanagh, for his portrayal of Eobard Thawne impersonating Wells as "TV Performer of the Week", noting that, "while there are several of the show's stars who could, and should, be singled out for their performances [...] it's Tom Cavanagh as the mysterious villain Dr. Harrison Wells who really helped make The Flash become something special."

Erik Kain of Forbes stated in a review of "The Trap" that Cavanagh was "uncanny, a perfect fit for the ominous yet likable villain". Reviewing Cavanagh's performance as Harry in the episode "The Darkness and the Light", Eric Walters of Paste said, "Having Tom Cavanagh back is wonderful, and he has brought a renewed energy with him. When Harrison 2 referred to Cisco as "Crisco," I knew this episode was going to be hot fire." In his review of "When Harry Met Harry...", Jesse Schedeen of IGN felt that the Council of Wells was "basically an excuse for Cavanagh to put on funny wigs and ridiculous accents," and he had similar feelings for the episode "Harry and the Harrisons", which had Harry joining the Council of Harrisons. However, in his review of the season 4 penultimate episode "Think Fast", which shows Harry's declining intelligence due to the effects of the Thinking Cap, Schedeen felt that "Cavanagh is doing a fine job of depicting Harry's deteriorating mental state, playing it both for laughs and tragedy as the situation demands."

Accolades

The Eobard Thawne version of Wells was ranked at number 35 in Rolling Stone's list of 40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time. He also topped Entertainment Weekly's list of "20 "best" villains on superhero TV in 2015", and was included in Collider's list of Best TV Villains of 2015. Cavanagh received an IGN Awards nomination for Best TV Villain for his portrayal of the character in The Flash. He was also nominated for Choice TV – Villain at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards. Jason Berman of Screen Rant ranked Cavanagh fifth in his 2016 list, "20 Best Actors in the Arrowverse".

Other appearances

Cavanagh reprised his roles of Harry and Thawne/Wells in Supergirl, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow, all of which are set in the Arrowverse along with The Flash. He reprised the latter role in The CW's Superhero Fight Club promotional video. A version of Wells appears on the episode "Ants on a Hamburger" of the non-Arrowverse animated series Robot Chicken, voiced by Cavanagh. The Earth-27 version of Wells appears in The Flash: Johnny Quick, a tie-in novel to The Flash.