I'm still hung up on The Flash's game-changing midseason finale. I laughed! I cried! I was completely blown away by "The Man in Yellow." This episode kicked off the Reverse Flash, ultimately revealing that Harrison Wells is almost certainly a bad guy through and through. But one pattern I've noticed while live-tweeting the show is that critics and viewers alike are very confused by Reverse Flash. Is there more than one reverse flash? What is the difference between Reverse-Flash and Professor Zoom? Why didn't the Reverse-Flash kill Detective Eddie Thorne? How can Harrison Wells be the Reverse Flash when we see him getting beat up by a villain? Oh, my dear, naive Flash fans. I'm here to help clear things up by providing some lore about The Flash and his greatest enemy.
Reverse Flash is a title, not a villain
One of the biggest points of confusion I noticed in the finale came from a misunderstanding of the Reverse-Flash dynamic. The Reverse-Flash isn't a speedster, it's a title occupied by several villains. The first Reverse-Flash was called "The Adversary", the villain of the first Flash, Jay Garrick. But what you need to know about Reverse-Flash is the second villain to hold the title and Barry Allen's greatest enemy, Professor Zoom.
Eobard Thawne, commonly known as Professor Zoom, is the foremost Reverse-Flash. No one else has had such an impact on The Flash's history, including in the defining comic book event "Flashpoint." Professor Zoom, along with Iris, killed Barry's mother and tried their best to create a fierce competition with Barry. Dude doesn't need to beat Barry, he needs healing.
So, who is Professor Zoom? Why is he so important?
Imagine the craziest Beyoncé stan you've ever seen. This stan is so obsessed with Beyoncé being a worse entertainer that they decide to become a pop star to force their idol to step up her game. But the stan-turned-pop star went completely insane and tried to ruin Beyoncé's life, including killing those close to her. That's Professor Zoom in a nutshell. He is cruel. He was fascinated. He doesn't deserve to be bothered. Professor Zoom from the 25th century has two distinct origins, and I suspect both origins play a role in The Flash.
Does this mean Harrison Wells is Professor Zoom?
I believe Harrison Wells is Professor Zoom based on what we've seen. The show doesn't directly call him that, which is understandable, but he's the only Reverse-Flash to have a meaningful appearance on the show, and all signs point to Harrelson taking over that role. So far, the series has played with established canon without completely ignoring it.
Time travel is a major factor and integral to Professor Zoom's character as the Reverse-Flash, and thanks to the newspaper in Wells' lair, we know it's part of the show. Grant Gustin, who plays Barry Allen, gave some interesting hints about the direction of the show in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter , saying: "To me, the coolest thing about that moment was that they were Setting up the fact that the Flashpoint storyline (from the comics) could happen - the Speed Force could be an aspect, and time travel could be a part of the show."
How did Harrison Wells gain these powers?
Remember the ending where Wells makes a super creepy reverse-flash sound and operates some futuristic technology on the yellow suit? This comes directly from an early version of Professor Zoom. Eobard Thawne comes from the 25th century and is a big fan of "The Flash". This obsession leads him down a dangerous path, including undergoing plastic surgery to look like Barry and tending to harm Iris. The last scene with Welles using the machine on the reverse flash suit?
Yes, that's it. The original Professor Zoom didn't have any acceleration abilities. Instead, he uses some futuristic machinery to amplify the Flash Suit's speed energy, giving him some superpowers only when he wears it. As the comics continue, Barry Allen's abilities become more diverse. Honestly, he's more powerful than non-comic readers realize, and this show has only scratched the surface of what it means to be a superhero. It would make sense for Professor Zoom to be reformed to continue to pose a real threat to Barry.
In his new origin, Professor Zoom replicates the accident that gave Barry his superpowers and travels back in time to meet his hero. Things don't go so smoothly once Professor Zoom realizes he's destined to become the world's biggest super-powered asshole. Professor Zoom went mad, his obsession turning from idolatry to pure evil. Without The Flash, there would be no Professor Zoom, which would explain why Wells is so obsessed with Barry reaching his full potential. I doubt Welles will try to shut down Barry's powers entirely.
Why didn't he kill Eddie Thorne?
While there's some suspicion that Eddie Thorne might be the Reverse-Flash, I think the show will play out differently. Welles looks more like the show's Eobard Thawne, aka Professor Zoom, aka the second villain to go by the name of the Reverse-Flash (definitely including time travel). Notice Eddie’s last name? If Wells was really Ebard and killed Eddie Thorne, he would have destroyed his family lineage and perhaps even inadvertently rendered himself non-existent.
Where will this wonderful show go?
I know all the knowledge I'm giving up is pretty crazy. The Flash is a long-running comic book character that involves a lot of time travel, so it's no surprise that his history is so confusing. The show will continue to tease out information about its Reverse-Flash and show just how sinister Welles really is. One theory I have is that while Wells' superspeed powers only come from his Reverse-Flash suit, he's trying to find a way to gain them permanently. The fact that we see two Reverse-Flashes in the midseason finale doesn't mean they're two different people. Most likely, the masked Reverse-Flash who caused so much damage was just Wells at a different moment in his timeline.
It's not unprecedented for Professor Zoom to travel back in time to shape his own life and ruin Barry's. That means the road ahead for our favorite Scarlet Speedster, Barry Allen, is definitely not going to be an easy one.
Image: Diyah Pera/The CW; DC Comics; Jiffy (2); skyesward (2), theflashgifs (3)/Tumblr
