Warning! This post contains spoilers for The Flash season 7 finale.
The Flash season 7 finale brings back an original season 1 character. The Arrowverse series saw the departure of original cast members Carlos Valdes and Tom Cavanagh as Cisco Ramon and Harrison Wells, respectively. However, The Flash fans were in for a treat as they both returned for the season 7 finale. While Valdes reprised his role as the beloved tech genius, aiding Barry and his family in the Godspeed war, Cavanagh’s appearance brought back an unexpected character from season 1.
In a bid to defeat August Heart and his Godspeed clones from destroying Central City, Speed Force Nora, with the approval of Barry and Iris, tapped into the Negative Speed Force to bring Eobard Thawne (aka, Reverse-Flash) back. The Flash and his greatest enemy fought side by side against Godspeed. For Reverse-Flash, an enemy of Barry’s was no friend of his because it meant he had competition with regards to killing the Scarlet Speedster and Thawne was not about to let someone else do what he’d longed dreamed of.
To that end, Reverse-Flash’s return in The Flash’s season 7 finale brings back Eobard as Wells, which certainly feels like a season 1 callback considering that Barry got to know this version of the villain the best out of all the other iterations. Continuing to wear Harrison’s face is worse because his is a face Barry used to trust and it feels like Eobard knows that very well, which is why he keeps it. Because of Tom Cavanagh’s portrayal of Thawne in season 1, the season 7 finale brought back the actor in the role. His iteration of Reverse-Flash may be the one fans know best, but Eobard’s actual guise is that of Matt Letscher, whose final appearance on The Flash occurred during the Flashpoint storyline in season 3. Since the Crisis on Earth-X crossover, however, the villainous speedster has come back with the face of Harrison Wells.
Despite the threat of Thawne’s return in the future, however, The Flash seemed fine with it precisely because he predicted his greatest adversary would break free. The brief showdown between the pair certainly points to something bigger brewing on the horizon and it’s possible fans will see Reverse-Flash again as soon as The Flash season 8. He’s been working to bring Barry the most amount of pain for a very long time, so it makes sense that he keeps appearing when it’s least expected. Reverse-Flash has technically been dead since the end of season 1, but changes to the timeline (and the introduction of time remnants) have allowed him to keep returning to The Flash at various points.
A little bit goes a long way and, though the battle between Barry and Thawne was brief, it was good to see the villain again after all this time. Granted, it’s unclear which version of the character this is. The last time Reverse-Flash was on the series was in The Flash season 5 and he was training Nora West-Allen on how to use her abilities, while also using her to escape prison and death. Whichever version of Eobard the Speed Force unleashed is unclear, but his goal remains the same and it’ll be interesting to see what he cooks up next in his never-ending fight against Barry.