Can Harrison Wells' Reverse-Flash Be a Good Guy?

Last time we caught our favorite speedster on screen things got real for The Flash. The midseason finale, "The Man in the Yellow Suit," was jam packed with awesomeness and heartbreak. Barry Allen confessed his love to Iris with pretty sad results, but what really piqued everyone's interest was seeing the Reverse-Flash front and center. He proved to be far more experienced than Barry with his abilities and proceeded to kick major ass. What made matters worse was finally getting a peak behind the curtain of what Harrison Wells has been up to. The end of the episode suggested Wells is the Reverse-Flash on The Flash by showing the iconic yellow suit in his super secret hidden liar. But many fans felt that there had to be more to that reveal.

There's no more need to doubt Wells' bad guy status. At the CW's Arrow/The Flash panel at the Television Critics Association's winter TV previews Tom Cavanagh, who plays Wells, revealed, "He’s the man in the yellow suit. Yes, I am Reverse-Flash." Well, that's one mystery solved. But even with all the mounting evidence against him, could Wells still turn out to be a good guy, despite his traditionally villainous alter ego?

Wells May Be More Complicated Than the Comicss' Reverse-Flash

Harrison Wells is very contradictory villain. On one hand, he has shown himself to be a valuable mentor to Barry as he continues as a fledgling superhero. On the other, he's been pretty shady since Episode 1. Also, we're still not sure what Wells has in mind for his end game. The Reverse-Flash that is Barry Allen's greatest foe in the comics is known as Professor Zoom. Say it one more time, Reverse-Flash is Professor Zoom. Comics can be a bit confusing, but bear with me. Professor Zoom is basically a superpowered jerk with a tendency for twisted mind games. Wells kinda fits that profile, right? Pretending to be Barry's mentor while secretly wanting his powers is pretty gnarly. But Wells is already very different from his comic book counterpart in terms of how he's getting close to Barry and his hand in making him a hero. Of course, his past is still shrouded in mystery.

Comic Books Love Role Reversals

The Flash has been really smart thus far in terms of changing storylines from the comics to work on the show. But for the most part, it is staying close to the weird, wonderful heart of the comics. In those comics, role reversals aren't uncommon. But the Reverse-Flash is Barry's most important villain. Like the Joker and Lex Luthor, he's a major bad guy whose role reversal to good guy doesn't happen in the comics or stick around long when it does.

If the writers decide to make Wells so complicated that he operates as more of an anti-hero or anti-villain, that would set The Flash apart from the countless other comic book adaptations hitting our screens. Plus, I love Team Flash and it breaks my heart to think about what will happen once Wells is revealed to be the Reverse-Flash to everyone else. Can't we have Team Flash stay together at least through the end of the season?

Time Travel Will Definitely Complicate Things

So, what can we expect from The Flash returns for the second half of Season 1? Time travel. May sound a bit crazy, but time travel is very important to Barry's story in the comics and we've already seen hints of it on the show thanks to the newspaper in Wells' hidden lair. When asked about how time travel will appear on The Flash, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg told IGN, "Definitely by accident. There's an unexpected, accidental time travel coming up, that is played for both hilarity and darkness. It happens in an episode we're really excited about. It's the first Weather Wizard episode with Liam McIntyre." What does time travel have to do with the Reverse-Flash? Everything.

In the comics, the Reverse-Flash travels back in time to meet his obsession, The Flash. Through a variety of plot twists, he goes mad, wears a yellow Flash suit imbued with speed powers until he gets some of his own, and does terrible things like kill Iris West. I imagine the writers on The Flash will streamline the story. We very well may see Wells fully become a good guy instead of pretending to be one, but definitely not anytime soon. Until then, expect things to get weirder and the stakes to get higher when The Flash returns.

Images: Katie Yu/CW; theflashgifs/Tumblr (3)