After the Season 2 finale of CW’s The Flash, viewers watched as Barry shattered the timeline by saving his mother from being killed at the hands of the Reverse-Flash. According to Entertainment Weekly’s Spoiler Room, Tom Cavanagh is confirmed to be back in the upcoming season. Already he’s portrayed Eobard Thawne assuming the body of Harrison Wells, the real Harrison Wells, and his Earth-2 doppelgänger. But who will he be returning as in Season 3? Below are three theories — all somewhat plausible — about which character he’ll play.
The Real Harrison Wells
In the last scenes of the finale, it appears that Barry defeated the Reverse-Flash. If that’s indeed the case, than there would have been no need for Thawne to assume the body of Wells as he did in Season 1. So there’s a high possibility the actor might portray the real director of S.T.A.R. Labs in this altered timeline. We know that before his death at the hands of Thawne, Wells was a brilliant scientist, the husband of Tess Morgan, and a friend of Tina McGee. He could assume the Thomas Wayne Batman role from the “Flashpoint” storyline (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out my article here), helping Barry restore the timeline to it’s previous state.
More of His Earth-2 Doppelganger?
Much of Season 2 was focused on the Earth-2 doppelganger of the real Wells, and we could possibly seem him return again. Although we don’t know how Earth-2 will be affected by the timeline shift, it’s possible nothing will have changed… which could give Cavanagh a chance to reprise his role as the father of Jesse Quick. He could end up, with the help of Jesse, acting to restore the timeline. Conversely, Earth-2 could indeed be altered, maybe never having seen Zoom created and giving Wells a reason to journey to Earth-1 to meet Barry in the first place.
The Reverse Flash Again?
In the “Flashpoint,” the Reverse-Flash becomes a living paradox — retaining the memories of both the altered and unaltered timelines (just as Barry does). It’s quite possible the version of Thawne that we see in Season 1 (the one that assumed the body of Wells) could be the one that becomes the paradox… and becomes the one that Barry must battle in a live-action adaptation of the comic book storyline.
Although all three of these theories are possible, the CW could end up pulling a completely different twist. Maybe we’ll see him as an Earth-3 doppleganger or maybe even an entirely new character. Season 3‘s release date hasn’t been announced yet, but when it is you can feel safe knowing that Cavanagh will be portraying someone.
