Eobard Thawne (Arrowverse)

In the 22nd century, Professor Eobard Thawne was a scientist obsessed with the Flash. Thawne managed to recreate the accident that created the Flash to give himself super-speed, birthing his own "Negative" version of the Speed Force.[2][3] He became bitter and jealous of the Flash when his idol, having traveled through time, saved a crowd that he had intended to rescue.[4] Thawne ultimately grew to despise his former hero upon traveling through time and learning that he was destined to be the Flash's greatest enemy, and vowed to become the "reverse" of everything the Flash stood for as the Reverse-Flash.[2] The Reverse-Flash and the Flash battled each other across centuries, with neither speedster ever prevailing.[5]

Thawne eventually learns of the Flash's secret identity – Barry Allen – and travels back in time to the year 2000 to kill him as a child. When his plan fails, Thawne kills Barry's mother Nora and frames his father Henry instead so that the Flash would never exist. In doing so, Thawne inadvertently severs his own connection to the Speed Force, stranding himself in the 21st century.[6] He murders and assumes the identity of Dr. Harrison Wells to found S.T.A.R. Labs, and spends the next fourteen years building a particle accelerator with the intention of creating the Flash ahead of schedule.[7][5] As Wells, he mentors Barry in defeating metahuman criminals created by the explosion of the particle accelerator and helps him to increase his speed, hoping to use Barry's pure connection to the Speed Force to return to his own time period.[8][9] Thawne also taunts and bests Barry in combat as the Reverse-Flash to push him into getting faster.[10][11] After his secret is discovered, Thawne is captured by Barry with the help of Oliver Queen, Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein.[12] Thawne offers Barry a chance to travel back in time to save Nora in exchange for a time machine to return to the future once the Speed Force wormhole is open. Barry ultimately refuses and destroys Thawne's machine. Before Eobard can kill Barry, his ancestor, police detective Eddie Thawne, shoots himself, seemingly erasing Eobard from existence.[5] A flash drive containing Thawne's will as Wells bequeathes S.T.A.R. Labs to Barry and a video-recorded confession to Nora's murder which allows for Henry's exoneration.[13] Barry travels back in time numerous times to seek Thawne's help during this timeframe in which he masqueraded as Wells.[14][15]

After losing his father to Zoom, Barry decides to travel back in time to save Nora from Thawne, creating an alternate "Flashpoint" timeline in which Thawne is imprisoned. Upon realising his mistake in manipulating time, Barry releases Thawne and allows him to kill Nora to restore the timeline.[16]

After escaping the Flashpoint timeline,[16] Thawne's time remnant enters a nullified state of existence as an aberration, causing him to be hunted by the demonic enforcer of the Speed Force, the Black Flash.[17] Seeking to cement his existence, Thawne forms a legion of villains to locate the fabled Spear of Destiny.[18][19] While Thawne and his co-conspirators succeed in using the Spear to rewrite reality to their whims,[20] the Legends travel back in time to de-power the Spear, causing Thawne to be vaporized by the Black Flash.[21]

The Speed Force later brings Thawne's time remnant back to life to be enslaved. His powers are removed and he is assigned to defend the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand – a "fixed point" in history – from time travelers. The Legends visit the fixed point to attract the attention of an evil Gideon, and Thawne decides to aid them.[22] Thawne's time remnant is killed by Sara Lance's android doppelgänger, after which Nate Heywood's android doppelgänger is tricked into taking Thawne's place as the defender of the fixed point.[23]

The timeline's original version of Thawne, who mentored Barry as Wells, survives his erasure following Eddie's sacrifice through his connection to the Negative Speed Force which, according to Thawne, is immune to timeline changes.[24][25] Thawne allies with Dark Arrow and Overgirl of the Nazi-dominated Earth-X to invade Earth-1.[26] During the final battle, Barry defeats Thawne but spares his life. Thawne speeds off while his allies are killed.[27][28]

Sometime after his failed alliance with Earth-X, Thawne is captured and imprisoned in Iron Heights Penitentiary in 2034.[29] He is placed under a death sentence and is routinely tortured by a corrupt prison guard.[29] Thawne's super-speed is dampened by a dagger that once belonged to the metahuman serial killer Cicada.[25] In 2049, Barry and Iris West-Allen's future daughter, Nora West-Allen, seeks Thawne's help in solving a police case and controlling her own newly-discovered super-speed.[29] Thawne becomes Nora's mentor and claims that he seeks to create a more noble legacy for himself before his execution.[15][30][29] Thawne manipulates Nora into traveling back in time to help Barry defeat Cicada,[31] and the pair routinely keep in touch through Nora's journal entries.[15][3] Thawne's plan proves successful as Cicada's dagger is destroyed, freeing him moments before his execution in 2049. He briefly fights Barry, Nora and Team Flash before Nora begins to be erased from existence due to the changes in the timeline. After Barry runs Nora into the Negative Speed Force at Thawne's fervent suggestion, Thawne makes his escape.[25]

Thawne is turned into a being of negative tachyons and is fused with Nash Wells following the Crisis on Infinite Earths; Nash became the 'repository' for the consciousness of every version of Harrison Wells, which includes Thawne due to his time spent in Wells' form. Thawne is able to assert control of Nash's body but is captured by Barry and imprisoned at S.T.A.R. Labs.[32] Before Thawne can regain his connection to the Negative Speed Force, Team Flash expels him from Nash, leaving him without a body to possess.[33] Barry later has the Speed Force reconstitute Thawne's corporeal form in exchange for his aid in subduing Godspeed. Thawne double-crosses Barry by grievously incapacitating Godspeed before making an attempt on Barry's life. Barry easily defeats Thawne, revealing that he is now faster than him. Thawne vows vengeance before speeding off.[34]

To seize control of Barry's life as revenge for his defeat, Thawne used the Negative Still Force to makes several changes to the timeline to create an alternate "Reverse-Flashpoint" reality in which he is the Flash and Barry is the Reverse-Flash. Barry uncovers Thawne's machinations and reconnects to the Speed Force to restore the timeline,[35] causing Thawne to begin fading from existence. To save Thawne's life, Barry strips him of his powers and imprisons him at Iron Heights Penitentiary once more.[4]

During the second part of the "Elseworlds" crossover, Barry and Oliver are hit with hallucinogenic gas, causing Oliver to hallucinate Thawne while Barry sees Malcolm Merlyn.[36]

Cavanagh has stated many times that he enjoys playing the character of Eobard Thawne as the character is interesting, complex and challenging to portray.[43][44][45] 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.'[46] He also sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss his supervillain 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."[47] Kreisberg insisted that Thawne was not evil because his fatherly 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".[39]

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."[46] 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.[48]

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."[49] The entertainment website Collider chose Tom Cavanagh has the Best TV Actor of the Week on May 18, 2015.[50] Rotten Tomatoes ranked Tom Cavanagh's Reverse Flash as the Scariest Character on Comic Book Television as of November 2019.[51] 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."[52]

The Flash's Eobard Thawne was ranked number 35 on Rolling Stone's list of the 40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time.[53] He also topped Entertainment Weekly's list of 20 "best" villains on superhero TV in 2015,[54] and was included on Collider's list of Best TV Villains of 2015.[55] Cavanagh received an IGN Awards nomination for Best TV Villain for his portrayal of the character in The Flash.[56] He was also nominated for Choice TV Villain at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards.[57] Screen Rant's Jason Berman ranked Cavanagh fifth on his 2016 list 20 Best Actors in the Arrowverse.[58] The entertainment website Collider chose Tom Cavanagh as the Best TV Actor of the Week on May 18, 2015.[50]