Who Are the Men in the Yellow Suits on CW's The Flash

The winter break is almost over for CW's The Flash, with a new episode appearing January 20th at 8/7C. Flash has faced the Man in the Yellow Suit, who has the same powers as Barry, but he seems a little bit better trained. The end of the mid-season finale left fans wondering if what we saw was truly the Man in the Yellow Suit. This is Barry's toughest opponent yet and one he won't be able to beat without some real strategy and training. Who is the Man in the Yellow Suit? The man Flash fans know as Reverse Flash.

Warning: There are some spoilers from the mid-season finale, from back in early December.

The mid-season finale offered fans a glimpse into who is the Reverse Flash. Barry got to face the man who may or may not have killed his mother and it was quite the test for him. During the break, there was a bit of info that came out about these characters and who the Reverse Flash actually is, even though the end of the episode before the break showed Dr Harrison Wells standing in front of the Reverse Flash costume and many fans speculated that Wells wasn't the man wearing it.

However, it's been confirmed that there's more than one man wearing this suit, so let's get right down to business and figure out who else could be the Reverse Flash.

Reverse Flash #1 - Dr. Harrison Wells

To the folks that think Wells isn't the Reverse Flash, we hate to disappoint you, but he totally is. Aside from the fact he has the suit in his secret lair, Tom Cavanagh, the actor that plays Harrison Wells, recently said this at a Television Critics Association panel:

He’s the man in the yellow suit. Yes, I am Reverse Flash.

Cavanagh and executive producer Andrew Kreisberg had a lot more to say about what's coming down the pipeline, but this was the first thing which put speculators to rest. There you have it. It's confirmed. However, it was pretty obvious, right? Wells was sneaking around and pretending that he needed to be in a wheelchair. Why the giant ruse? No one would have suspected him if he wasn't in the wheelchair. Regardless, this is the man in the yellow suit, but was he the one fighting the Flash or is he off doing something else? An even bigger question is why is he doing this? What is his endgame?

Chances of Wells being Reverse Flash: 1-1 (Confirmed)

Reverse Flash #2 - Eddie Thawne

The second Iris West's phone rang and the called ID read "Eddie Thawne" most Flash fans collectively lost their minds because in the comic book world, Professor Zoom's name (Reverse Flash) is Eobard Thawne. Anyway, Eddie is dating Iris West, and Barry Allen is crushing on her hard. Two men love the same woman, so of course, fans thought this Reverse Flash, who killed Allen's mother, figured in that Barry eventually got the girl and Thawne got all "killy." After the mid-season break, all hope was lost until Kreisberg had this to say

His name is not an accident... Eddie's connection to the Reverse Flash lore is going to pay off big time in the back half of the year.

So he doesn't flat-out say Thawne is going to be one of the Reverse Flashes, but he does have a connection to the character. There's another theory, which is actually theory #4 on this list, which really puts everything into a weird perspective. However, we're really going to have to wait for quite a few weeks in order to find out how Thawne connects to all of this.

Chances of Thawne being Reverse Flash: 2-1

Reverse Flash #3 - Barry Allen

Get ready for crazy fan-theories because I'm about to drop one on your head that will have you questioning what I do in my free time. Barry Allen eventually becomes Reverse Flash, far in the future. After all the meta-humans are safely stored away in the S.T.A.R. Labs makeshift jail, Barry comes to realize that while he's gone back in time to try and stop his mother's murder, he never actually found out who committed the crime. For some plot induced stupidity reason, Allen puts on the yellow costume and heads back in time. He figures out that he's the one that has to kill his mother, but he refuses to do. Like Marty McFly, he starts disappearing and just goes through with it in order to save the current timeline, since Barry's mother's death led to Barry going into forensics, which had him become the Flash.

What proof do I have of this? I have literally zero proof other than it would make for a really good story with a great emotional moment for Barry. This is literally a nutso fan theory you see anywhere on the net, and I snuck it into this piece. The only thing we know is that during the CW panel at the TCA, Kreisberg stated that in the 17th episode, we'll be seeing Barry's mother's murder from the point of view of the Reverse Flash, but not his point of view:

I didn’t say it was from Wells’ point of view, I said it was from the Reverse Flash’s point of view.

That's the nail in the coffin that there's more than one Reverse Flash, but still no connection to Barry Allen as that character. Let's end the crazy fanboy rant here. I already sound sadistic enough.

Chances of Allen being Reverse Flash: 1,000-1

There's only one Reverse Flash... Eddie Thwane is Dr Wells

While piecing this all together, there's something that didn't make too much sense. Once again, during the CW panel at the TCA, Tom Cavanagh said something that changes everything. He said there is only one Reverse Flash. This could mean a few things. This could mean Thawne is the man in the Yellow Suit, but Wells is behind it all ad some evil director. That makes sense to play Thawne off as more of the brawn and Wells as the brains, but since this show is going to deal with time travel, there's another theory that works out even better and when we say "better," we mean a lot more fun to think about.

Dr Wells is actually the older version of Eddie Thawne and Wells is a time traveller. Sure, Wells could just be directing all of this, but that's not as fun to think about. If the Reverse Flash eventually learns to travel back in time, he could come back in time to 2014-2015 to orchestrate all of this, maybe even including the explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs. Why is he doing this? Again, not too sure. Maybe Barry betrays him at some point in the future and this is his revenge. Does that mean we could see two guys in Yellow Suits at the same time? That sounds pretty awesome too.

Chances of this theory being true: 5-1

While we still have to wait for further episodes of The Flash to piece all of this together, there's still a few gun theories about who the Reverse Flash is and one incredibly insane theory you'd normally find deep on some Flash fan-page. Let us know who you think the Reverse Flash is and what your theories are with this story. Remember, the crazier, the better!

Make sure to check out The Flash on the CW on Tuesdays at 8/7C.

The Barry is the Reverse Flash theory is definitley interesting and I could see somehting like that happening but I dont think thats where theyre going to go with it. I think its something along the lines of having the 2 Reverse Flashes being Wells from different points in his life. There could a younger and an older one. Wells name is probably Eobard Thawne and Eddie is his grandfather or something.

I do think Eddie will become Zoom at some point though, with a story similar to that of Hunter Zolomon

Think they could do the evil twin given to another family story? 1000000-1 chance but it be fun lol

This is exactly what I was thinking.

I aggree... or perhaps "Harrison Wells" is actually going to turn out to more or less have the origin of Hunter Zolomon. It could explain why he has plans for Grodd and that figures in how he'll eventually get his own powers.

Also a very good possibility.

both wells and thawne make a great zoom, cannot wait for everything to come together

I still think Wells is Barry stranded in the past without his powers. All this effort to make him look like a villain is just misdirection.

I believe that Dr. Wells is Bart Allen. This would explain his access to future tech as well as his protectiveness of Barry. I think Bart was the man in the red Flash costume that tried to save Barry's mother. When Bart fails he gives up the costume and decides to make sure that history plays out the way he needs it to while keeps young Barry safe from Thawne is still in the past. Just my theory and hope because I would love Wells to turn out to be a twisted version of Bart.

Im not sure anymore after the mid season finale who is reverse flash except somehow it's harrison wells even though reverse flash beat him up. Unless it's a second reverse flash or harrison is that fast to be able to be beaten up and still be able to give the beating. But no matter what I love this show more than all the comic book shows on TV right now

My theory:

Harrison Wells = Hunter Zolomon (Zoom)

Eddie Thawne from the future/one of his descendants = Professor Zoom

The Reverse Flash that Barry fought in the stadium was Wells.

The Reverse Flash that they captured, and then beat the heck out of Wells was future Eddie Thawne/one of his descendants. It would explain why he stopped mysteriously in front of Eddie, and just pushed him aside instead of outright killing him like the other cops.

I still think Wells and Reverse-Flash are one and the same, and they were together at the same place because of Reverse-Flash from a different point in time traveling back at that moment to retrieve the tachyon device. Keeping his own cover by pretending to not be himself....

I also think the mention of red and yellow energy when Barry's mom was murdered was Bary traveling back in time to stop Reverse-Flash and failing.

Still rolling with Harrison is Future Barry. Ive been saying that for a while now. It is obvious Thawne will become a true villain, and he could be one of the reverse flash seen thus far, bet lets not forget, this isn't a 1-off. Theory, at seasons end, they will only let Barry (and the audience) know that Thawne becomes the Reverse flash, and future season(s) has Barry trying to prevent it from happening, without altering the future too much.

I like number 4 a lot, I didn't think of that one!

Number 3 makes 0 sense.

Dr. Wells is really Barry from the future BOOM

I was definitely on board with there be two Reverse Flashes since the airing of mid-season finale. Wells is clearly one of the Reverse Flashes while the other one is somehow connected to Thawne.

I think Wells is a dark version of Bart Allen stuck in the past and the other reverse flash is his grand father Professor Zoom. Or here is another wacky theory...what if Eddie is Barry's long lost not identical twin brother(going for the Colbalt Blue origin story) and the second reverse flash is either an older version of him or his descendant Professor Zoom???

@jonny_anonymous said:

^my theory from episode 1

That would make sense

One flawed element with the "Wells is future Eddie" theory, that is he looks nothing like Eddie...Eddie has blond hair, Wells has dark brown. So did he have plastic surgery cause he looks way different if that theory is true.

I also don't think Wells is future Barry, to me this would defeat the whole purpose of Wells going back, be Reverse Flash in the past why? To teach his younger self a lesson? To get speed back from a scientific standpoint? ehh...I don't like this theory and hope it's not true.

Honestly the only way I'd be ok with this plausible theory would be if....Wells was indeed a darker, evil barry from another Earth/alternate Universe. Maybe in his universe everything or everyone died and he saw an opportunity to create a portal to another dimension/alternate Earth...being the mainstream or based on the mainstream DC Earth via the show's/Flash/Arrow's continuity.

This is my current theory. Though a Barry trying to make current Barry stronger also isn't a bad idea for Harrison Wells' character. They both have black hair and are scientific geniuses so it isn't out of the realm of what makes sense.

All these time travel theories are confusing and make my brain hurt.

Hmm not a bad theory

You forgot my favorite clue

Eddie: Why didn't he [Reverse-Flash] kill me?

I had been thinking for a while now, that Eddie will turn out to be secretly Barry's long-lost twin brother and end up becoming Cobalt Blue.

@bluelantern1995: I too have the same theory! I strongly believe that the 2 Reverse Flash's we saw in the mid-season finale were indeed Eddie and Wells. Eddie or one of Eddie's descendants, as you stated, is obviously the Zoom that attacked Wells and spared Eddie's life and Wells being the Zoom that fought Barry at the stadium. I have a link to a video that could possibly confirm this, but warning it may contain potential *SPOILERS*: http://youtu.be/pTvLaBqwYyc

Oh and another thing, at the near end of the episode 'Man In The Yellow Suit' Cisco says something about there being two speedsters in Barry's house that night of his mother's murder. I believe that is Barry himself from the future trying to save Nora's life, but fails. He could also be the one would carried his younger self 20 blocks away from the crime scene to insure his safety from Zoom.

still doesn't explain how he could be in two places at once. even with it being him from a different timeline isn't there this thing about you cant interact physically with yourself from an alternate timeline or you risk destroying the fabric of spacetime?

that's why im sticking with two reverse flashes: future eddie and current wells

Very interesting theories abound and they all have some potential. Ones I never thought about but it is fun to speculate!

OK< I previously mentioned this one and perhaps it was my imagination but in the last episode where they used the "Tachyon Trap" to capture Reverse Flash, did anyone notice a certain GREEN character trying to break through they tachyon field?

i definitely want the bad blue future flash. But not as Reverse Flash. Maybe Bad-Blue can help Bad Yellow.

@geekyeverafter: I think it would have to be eddies descendant. Wells very awkwardly mentioned for "detective thawne to read him his rights" or something like that. And I'm sure he was informing the reverse flash who Eddie was. Therefore it couldn't be Eddie from the future, or he would know what a younger version of himself looked like and wells wouldn't have needed to tell him.

@dan12456: Hmm...interesting, you may very well have a point. It is a bit odd how Wells chose Eddie as the one to read the captured Zoom his rights. It's as if he knew that once he said "detective Thawne" Zoom would realize that Eddie was a descendant of his, therefore killing Eddie would erase him from existence. That's probably also why Zoom grabbed Eddie and quickly stared at him. I think he was trying to see if he recognized him and he obviously did because he spared his life and ran off. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. However, I still believe there's a possibility that Eddie could be involved in all this somehow.

There are multiple reverse flashes in the show?

Originally, before the mid-season finale, I was thinking Eddie was the Reverse Flash, but then we saw Wells with the suit at the end of the episode and that pointed to him actually being the Reverse Flash. But what needs to be noted is that while yes he does have the suit, we never actually see him WEAR it.

BUT! There's one more theory...

While yes Wells does have the yellow suit and is hinted at having the super-speed, there is still the theory that Wells is actually a future version of Barry who, after failing to stop some "Crisis" in the future, travels back in time to push his past self so that he can change the future and stop whatever it is that Future Barry (Wells) couldn't. This would explain why Wells is so obsessed with pushing Barry to his utmost limits, even willing to kill and allow others to die. With Wells being a future version of Barry this would also explain how he has powers.

So yeah, my theory is that Wells is actually a future version of Barry who failed to stop some major crisis in the future, which drives him to travel in time to change said future by pushing his past self. This ultimately leads to Wells creating the Reverse Flash, who is Eddie, to push Barry even further and to kill Barry's mother as that is the driving force behind Barry's desire to be a hero.

Though, with that said, I'm still not sure how the Reverse Flash was we saw in "The Man in the Yellow Suit." We literally see Reverse Flash beat up Wells, yet we also see Reverse Flash randomly spare Eddie's life. It could be that the Reverse Flash we saw was a future version of either Wells or Eddie, who is trying to make sure that the past remains the same so that Barry can ultimately face this future "Crisis."

I like where these are going, but this theory crafting is pretty far fetched. Most of the articles about Reverse Flash on comicvine have been more fanboy wishful thinking.

Here's what I think: Wells is a literal "Reverse Flash". Not only by costume color, "evilness" and energy signature. Wells himself is not fast. He cannot channel the Speed Force into himself. As the "Reverse" Flash, he is only able to imbue others/objects with speed force. As a time traveler, he obviously has access to future technology. What future tech could be useful to someone who can imbue/transfer the speed force? A Drone.

At the end of the mid-season finale we see Wells remove an energized object from the suit. It seems to me as though he uses that "adapter" to channel and store speed force energy into the "Drone Suit". Using some kind of psychic link, or maybe just very advanced wireless tech (augmented contacts, nanobots, wireless reciever blah blah), he is able to control the suit remotely. Doing so requires a lot of concentration. It seems obvious that it would be difficult to be seemingly in two places at once; even for a super genius. How could he split his focus on being Reverse Flash, and Dr. Wells in the same time? Well, it would probably be much easier to control a Speed Force imbued drone when one doesn't have to focus on standing, or walking; instead relying on a machine to do all the work (the wheelchair).

One can notice some very interesting things in the Mid-Season finale.

1. Dr. Wells and Reverse Flash never speak in the same time.
2. Dr. Wells and Reverse Flash are never shown moving in the same time. During the scene when the two exchange dialogue; notice how neither are shown moving together on camera. That's important! The only times they are shown together are during the few moments where Reverse Flash treats Wells like a Ragdoll. Now, isn't it strange that Wells didn't scream out in pain really at all, minus a few low sounding grunts? He didn't flail his arms either; looking more like a corpse. Why? Because it takes a lot of focus to be two people at once. Both Reverse Flash and Dr Wells stay very stationary (minus vibrations and minor hand movements) when speaking to each other. When Reverse Flash attacks, Wells goes limp because it will require all his focus to beat himself up. This isn't something the camera just showed by accident. Nothing in film/television is simply filmed by accident.

Now, why does Wells want the Flash so badly? Well, if you were given the powers of the Speed Force, but couldn't use it yourself; wouldn't you be pissed? Wells wants the Flash's powers. He created Flash with the knowledge that he could eventually steal the powers for himself, when his test subject is ready. He's been raising Barry because he wants to steal Flash's powers when they are their peak, so he may finally have real power, rather than only being able to transfer power to others/objects.

Now, could he be Eddie from the future? Sure. Totally. Do they really look that similar? No way. Could that be explained through mysterious body altering future tech? Sure, but that doesn't really follow the theme that the writers have set. Eddie is more likely a distant relative, and potentially the person to take the mantle of Reverse Flash at the end of the season, when his distant relative-- Wells-- is defeated/killed/whatever.

How could Eddie become Reverse Flash?

Wells can do that pretty easily. Maybe before he dies, he transfers his powers one last time to Eddie; knowing that he is a distant relative, and in doing so guarantees a Reverse Flash legacy (the whole "we've been doing this forever" thing). Or, he could simply recruit Eddie later; maybe after Flash steals his girlfriend.

It is true that there is only one Reverse Flash..but that's a blanketed statement. What seems to be more likely hinted at, is that there is only one Reverse Flash..at a time!

Just my two cents..

@geekyeverafter

Yeah that last paragraph was what I immediately thought of as soon as there was a guy in red mentioned to be there. If that last paragraph is exactly like we think it is. Then it is either Hunter Zolomon or a future Barry that is Wells as the differences in character would have been proven.(Because if Flash truly believed his young self was in danger of being killed then why would Wells have repeatedly trained and pushed Barry to be stronger when he could have just killed him like 5 million times already on the show).

Wells I think is pretty obviously not the Reverse Flash(at least the way we think of him or is and Barry's Mom's Killer is called something else) there's just to much evidence against it as is already. Its just is he Hunter Zolomon(like my current theory) or a future version of Barry trying to make current Barry strong enough to beat Reverse Flash(my back up theory).

Wells being Barry from the future is indeed a possibility.

@inferiorego I really hope that your Barry theory is actually too crazy to be real. I mean, I love you Elfring, but having Barry be the one to kill his mother would kind of destroy the character. He needs to stay lighter than that. Let Arrow be the one carrying a bunch of guilt for killing people.

Having Barry go back in time and being unable to stop his mother's murder or doing a Flashpoint style thing where he has to let his mother go to make the world less terrible is one thing, but having him actually be the one to kill her is something else entirely.

That said, having him go back in time and the yellow suit and not killing him mother and erasing The Flash from history would be an interesting thematic way to end the show when that time comes.

It would be a fantastic story for a sci-fi movie that was pretty dark, but a terrible story for a CW show. Also, can you tell I think about Flashpoint a lot?

Here is my theory. I believe that Wells is Barry Allen from the future. I think Wells accidentally transported himself to the past and now believes that he is solely responsible for creating himself and making the flash. Wells (future Barry) understands the science behind making the machine that will create meta humans, which he knows is the only way to give his past self powers. As seen in the episode last month, it shows wells watching a camera that is placed in Barry's apartment waiting for him to be struck by lightening. It does appear that wells was wearing a reverse flash costume in last months episode, but is one of two people wearing the yellow suit. I believe he has done so that he can push Barry into training harder so that he will become strong enough to defeat the real reverse flash. My best guess is that the reason Harrison Wells is doing all of this is because he simply following the same timeline he was subject to when he was being trained by Wells (Future Barry), when he was young Barry Allen, and is just retaining the integrity of the timeline. He will eventually have trained Barry enough that he can defeat the reverse flash which is Eobard Thawne. I believe this because so far the producers have stuck close to the lineage of the flash story. The other reason I think this is because if you slow down the voice of the reverse flash on last months episode, "the man in the yellow suit", you can hear Harrison Wells voice in one scene and a new characters voice in another scene when they show him again. I believe Harrison Wells (future barry) has a reverse flash costume because he is trying to prepare young Barry to train harder so that he can become the hero Wells sees in the future news paper, essentially retaining the timelines integrity. The other character is well, I am unsure, because they have not introduced him yet as a character outside of the suit. But I will tell you that Harrison Wells (Future Barry) does know who this is.

All of this might be crazy, but from what they have shown of Wells so far, it is showing that he cares about Barry. It is Either that theory or Wells is Zoom (Hunter Zolomon) and does not want to really hurt Barry Allen but is working with Eobard Thawne the reverse flash who also does not want to kill Barry because he knows that he cannot exist without having Barry exist as the flash, which is why Eobard Thawne killed Barry's mother.

Either way both would be an awesome story line

Grant Gustin said that there is BIG reverse Flash twist in the finale that no one saw coming... Not even him...

He also said, he looked at some of the theories online and none of them are true...

That is because he hadn't seen mine yet

Here is what we know so far about Professor Wells-

1. He does not need the wheelchair. He can walk

2. He comes from the future. (Or at least has knowledge of the future.)

3. He killed Simon Stagg. (This one has nothing to do with the topic at hand but matters if you are a fan of Metamorpho.)

4. Everything he does he does to forge Barry into the hero that was chronicled in the history books from the future.

5. He has the yellow suit and can vibrate his voice into the same voice the Reverse-Flash used.

Here is some tidbits about Eobard Thawne, the original Reverse-Flash from the comics-

1. Comes from the future

2. Has the same powers as the Flash

3. His situation depends entirely upon the history of The Flash in the present day. Therefore he was never able to kill Barry. But he did go back in time and kill his mother, fight Barry from time to time, and at one point, apparently kill Iris.

So basically, because Wells is obviously from the future and has been manipulating Barry into becoming the Flash, even going so far as to purposefully create the accident that gave him his powers, has the suit and the voice-vibrating powders, I think it is pretty apparent that Wells is really Eobard Thawne. I bet Eddie Thawne is his ancestor.

I had been thinking for a while that Eddie may be the main cast character who dies at the end of the first season like Tommy was in Arrow. If he does, that may mean Eobard never comes to exist, or his timeline is deleted but because he was outside of the timestream, he continues to exist, and will actually be able to kill Barry if he gets a chance in future encounters.

All this Barry is the Reverse-Flash hype reminds me of what Venditti and Jensnn are currently doing in the Flash comic.

About the red speedster being present at the time of Nora Allen's death in addition to the yellow one. If I remember correctly, at the end of The Flash: Rebirth, when Thawne and Barry were travelling throughout time, they fought at the scene of Nora's death for a while. I may have this completely wrong and am confusing this with something from Flashpoint, but that is how I remember that. I feel like this whole series borrows heavy elements from Flash: Rebirth and that will somehow be incorporated into the story.

Alright. Here is my out there theory. In the future there is a Flash Corps and one of its members goes evil and goes back in time to wreak havoc and other members have to go back in time too and team up with the original Flash to stop him. This theory borrows elements from Geoff Johns' "Dastardly Deaths of the Rogues" arc, but just a minute amount so that it is still fresh.

I think Harrison Wells went back in time, deflated the footballs for the 2015 AFC Championship game and ran back just in time for the second half.

I like #4 - Wells is future Eddie and/or a relative.

@inferiorego: As you should sir. As you should.

This makes more since.....or at least it does to me after watching the newest episode, S01E13 and seeing Doctor Wells' ring more resembles the Flash's lighting bolt instead of the reverse flash's as well as Adult Barry Allen's blood being found in Barry's childhood home.....Doctor wells is the reverse flash BUT not "THE" reverse flash.. Doctor wells is actually Barry Allen from the future who came back in time to stop "THE" reverse flash from killing his mother and insuring Barry never becomes the flash. He (Doctor wells/future Barry Allen) succeeds in killing "THE" reverse flash BUT not before "THE" reverse flash kills his (Barry Allen's) mother. In turn causing future Barry Allen(Doctor Wells) to lose his powers as the flash. Therefore future Barry Allen(Doctor Wells) must become doctor wells and rig the explosion that gave Barry his powers as well as don the reverse flash's costume to insure that present day Barry Allen will become the flash and so that future Barry Allen (doctor wells) doesnt just blink from existence as well as to give present day Barry a reason to grow his powers, the stronger present day Barry becomes the stronger future Barry(Doctor Wells) becomes, as we have seen him use his powers only to have them fade on him leaving him crippled on the floor, and also so that future Barry (Doctor Wells) can also syphon off some of the speed force from present day Barry to infuse into the reverse flash's costume in order further increase his powers so that he(Doctor Wells/Future Barry) can become fast enough to break the time barrier to get back to the future. I know that's a lot, but come on, you have to admit, this would be an awsome scenario as well as make alot of sense. But you let me know what you think, do you think this could be the case? That future Barry Allen is having to insure his own survival, as well as his entire timeline?

@claws4785:

I'm thinking something along those lines. I think Dr. Wells is Future Flash and Reverse Flash is Eddie from the future. I think Dr Wells has travelled back to the past with Reverse Flash to make Present day Barry faster for whatever "Crisis" he faces as we saw on the future newspaper. Maybe Reverse Flash takes it too far and goes further back to kill Barry's mom. But I'm sticking with Wells is Future Flash