Eobard Thawne (Arrowverse)

Eobard Thawne
Arrowverse character
Tom Cavanagh as Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash in The CW's Superhero Fight Club promotional video.
First appearance	"Pilot" The Flash October 7, 2014
Based on	Eobard Thawne
Adapted by	Andrew Kreisberg
Portrayed by	Tom Cavanagh Matt Letscher
In-universe information
Alias	Reverse-Flash

Eobard Thawne is a fictional character portrayed by Tom Cavanagh and Matt Letscher in the television series of the Arrowverse, primarily The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. The character is based on the DC Comics character of the same name and commonly known by the alter ego Reverse-Flash. Letscher portrays Thawne's original likeness, and Cavanagh after the character steals the identity and appearance of Harrison Wells. Cavanagh has been praised by critics and fans for his performance as Thawne.

Storylines

The Flash

Further information: The Flash (2014 TV series)

In season one, Harrison Wells is introduced as the director of S.T.A.R. Labs, Central City on Earth-1. He activates a particle accelerator which explodes, and the dark matter energy released transforms various individuals into metahumans, including Barry Allen. Months later, Wells has become a paraplegic recluse and pariah in Central City. Wells, Cisco Ramon, and Caitlin Snow help Barry as the Flash; Wells pushes Barry to run faster to increase his protege's abilities as a speedster by taking down metahuman criminals. Unknown to the rest of the team, Wells is faking paralysis and has a hidden futuristic time vault within S.T.A.R. Labs, from which he conducts surveillance on his co-workers. He demonstrates a desire to keep Barry safe from harm, and murders Simon Stagg for seeking to exploit the Flash's powers. Wells soon causes Joe West to become suspicious of him. He ultimately appears as a tachyon-enhanced speedster who is later dubbed the "Reverse-Flash", and bests Barry in combat.

"Wells" is later revealed to be Eobard Thawne, the Flash's archenemy from the 22nd century and a descendant of police officer Eddie Thawne. Traveling to the 21st century to erase the Flash from history by murdering Barry's mother Nora and framing his father Henry, Thawne, left stranded with his Speed Force connection severed, killed the real Wells and assumed his identity. As Wells, he then founded S.T.A.R. Labs and created the particle accelerator to turn Barry into the Flash, hoping to use Barry's pure Speed Force connection to return home. After being exposed and captured, Thawne offers Barry a chance to travel back in time to save his family in exchange for a time machine to return to the 22nd century. Barry ultimately refuses and destroys Thawne's machine. The two speedsters then fight, with Thawne prevailing until Eddie shoots himself, seemingly erasing Thawne from existence.

In subsequent seasons, Thawne's various actions using Wells's identity make it difficult for doppelgängers of Wells to be in the general public. Thawne, in the guise of Wells, makes sporadic appearances in season two. A flash drive containing Thawne's will bequeathes S.T.A.R. Labs to Barry and a video-recorded confession to Nora's murder, allowing for Henry's exoneration. Barry later travels back in time to season one's timeframe to obtain Thawne's help with tachyon equipment. In season 3 when Barry saves his mother from Thawne, he locks up Thawne in a prison. after a short period of time Barry realises his mistakes and offers Thawne to kill his mother again hoping the timeline will revert back to normal.

In season five, Thawne – still with the appearance of Wells – is revealed to be the secret mentor of Nora West-Allen, Barry's future daughter. Imprisoned in Iron Heights in 2049 under a death sentence and routinely tortured by a corrupt prison guard, he professes to Nora that he helps her to ensure a better legacy for himself than simply being known only as an evil speedster. Nora first approached Thawne for his help in capturing Godspeed after she discovered her own speed powers, and she believed him to be the only person she could trust after learning that Iris deliberately suppressed her powers. Thawne agreed to train her in the use of her speed, revealing her father's identity to her. It was Thawne's suggestion that Nora help Barry with Clifford DeVoe's crashing satellite, and the pair routinely keep in touch through Nora's journal. Barry ultimately returns Nora to her own time once he learns of her connection with Thawne, now feeling unable to trust her, and goes to confront Thawne himself. Thawne asks Barry not to hold Nora's secrecy against her, as a condemned man's final request. Thawne later reveals to Nora the existence of a negative Speed Force, one that allows time travel without alerting other speedsters. However, Nora is unable to access it until she becomes enraged by her assumption that Barry no longer loves her, much to Thawne's consternation. Witnessing Thawne's interaction with Nora, Iris relates to Barry that although Thawne is clearly manipulating Nora, he also displays an almost paternal concern for her and seems to genuinely care about her. However, it is later revealed that Thawne's powers were negated by Cicada's dagger, and that the whole reason he mentored Nora for traveling to the past was to destroy the dagger and free him. After the dagger is destroyed, Thawne is freed, moments before his execution. He briefly fights Nora and Barry before they are distracted, when Nora began to be erased from existence. After the two ran away to enter the Negative Speed Force, at Thawne's fervent suggestion, Thawne makes his escape.

Legends of Tomorrow

Further information: Legends of Tomorrow

After Barry let Thawne murder Nora Allen again he let Thawne go, and he started to travel through time. Due to his own nullified state of existence being an aberration, he was hunted by the Black Flash, forcing him to seek out the Spear of Destiny in order to restore his natural existence. Unable to find the object and outrun the enforcer at the same time, Thawne formed a supervillain alliance. Thawne and his co-conspirators eventually retrieve the Spear of Destiny, which they use to rewrite reality to their whims. Despite initially succeeding, his plan was foiled by the Legends de-powering the object, and Thawne was vaporized by the Black Flash, being restored to the timeline and his original events as Wells.

Crossovers

Crisis On Earth-X

Further information: Crisis on Earth-X

During the crossover, Thawne is revealed to be an ally of the Nazi-dominated Earth-X leaders Dark Arrow and Overgirl. Claiming to have resumed the appearance of Wells "for old times' sake", Thawne implies to Barry that he survived his erasure from existence due to time travel vagaries. He assists Dark Arrow in saving Overgirl's life, along with their intent to invade Earth-1. During the final battle, Barry defeats Thawne but spares his life, and Thawne departs while his allies are killed.

Elseworlds

Further information: Elseworlds (Arrowverse)

During the second part of the crossover, Barry Allen and Oliver Queen are hit with hallucination gas in which the two fight each other; at this time, Barry sees the face of Thawne and Oliver sees the face of Malcolm Merlyn.

Concept and creation

On February 10 2014, Tom Cavanagh was set to join The Flash as Harrison Wells. The producers of the show said the following about the character: 'There's obviously more that meets the eye when you see Harrison Wells. ... His motivations are a big mystery, and tracking that through has been a very interesting ride with Mr. Cavanagh.' In episode 15 of the series, Cavanagh was revealed to playing Eobard Thawne. The writers did not want to call him Eobard Thawne from the pilot becuase, according to co-creator Andrew Kreisberg, 'it's not like a movie where you watch it and the story is over. It's a TV show where after every week you can research the name Eobard Thawne and you can tell where the story is going. That's why we didn't go that path.' Two episodes later showed the debut of Matt Letscher in the role, and the internet was exploded by this news. The executive producers had not planned this twist from the start saying 'We were talking about, 'well what if Wells wasn't wells? What if he stole Wells' body?' Letscher would continue to play Thawne in his original likeness as a regular in season two of Legends of Tomorrow.

Character development

Characterization

Cavanagh has stated many times that he enjoys playing the character of Eobard Thawne as the character is interesting, complex and challenging to portray. When speaking with the Television Academy he had this to say about playing Thawne: 'The Reverse Flash has what I like to a call timeless way of speaking. He doesn’t use colloquialisms from 2016, he’s a little more formal, and he takes joy in destroying people. He has a larger perspective because he comes from 100-plus years in the future and has seen it all. It’s easy to play a character like that. He’s the arch in arch-villain.' He also sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss his supervillian voice in which he said:"If you're doing it right, you can be charismatic, you can win people over, and you can have so much fun. You build a cage and then you just rattle that cage more than the leading guy can a lot." Kreisberg insisted that Thawne was not evil because 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".

Costume

When asked by the Television Academy about wearing the Reverse-Flash suit, Cavanagh replied with "That’s a lot of what acting is. Often times, you’re tapping into the things you did as a youth. You pretended. A lot of us pretended to be Batman, to be our favorite super-hero. A lot of times, you pretended to have the power of imagination at your side. And the first time you put it on, the cameras are rolling, and off you go at superspeed. I’ve gotten to do some great, great thrilling stunts in the suit. It is a dream come true. I understand that it’s a job, and I’m getting paid, but the second that a director yells, “Action”, all that disappears, and you’re a guy in a supersuit. It’s extremely thrilling. I’ve said before that I wish that anyone who is a legitimate comic book fan could have this opportunity. It really feels like a privilege." Cavanagh also said "I benefited from all the trial and error that went into that. … I think they did a marvelous job with the suit, I’m always very flattered and honored to put it on," when speaking with Access Hollywood.

Reception

Critical response

The critical response to Cavanagh's version of the character has been sky-high since his debut. The American business magazine Forbes praised Cavanagh for his role in The Flash season 1 with Erik Kain stating "Tom Cavanagh is uncanny, a perfect fit for the ominous yet likable villain. All his lines and statements connect with audiences precisely because of how well Cavanagh pulls off the role, and how well that role is written." The entertainment website Collider chose Tom Cavanagh has the Best TV Actor of the Week on May 18, 2015. Rotten Tomatoes ranked Tom Cavanagh's Reverse Flash as the Scariest Character on Comic Book Television as of November 2019. Chancellor Agard from Entertainment Weekly praised the character of Thawne saying "No matter how many ups and downs The Flash has had over its run, it has never faltered when it comes to its characterization of Thawne."

Accolades

The Flash's Eobard Thawne was ranked number 35 on Rolling Stone's list of the 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 on 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. Screen Rant's Jason Berman ranked Cavanagh fifth on his 2016 list 20 Best Actors in the Arrowverse. The entertainment website Collider chose Tom Cavanagh has the Best TV Actor of the Week on May 18, 2015.

Other appearances

• Cavanagh voiced Thawne masquerading as Earth-1 Wells in the episode "Ants on a Hamburger" of the animated series Robot Chicken.