The Flash 100th Episode and the Return of a Major Villain

This article contains spoilers for The Flash season 5 episode 8.

Barry Allen has faced many competent villains over the course of The Flash‘s first 100 episodes, but none have been as memorable — or as terrifying — as his first: Eobard Thawne. At the end of “What’s Past is Prologue,” The Flash‘s 100th episode, we discovered that Nora has been working with a version of Eobard Thawne from the future.

The return of this Big Bad is a huge move for this show, and one that we had the chance to talk to both Tom Cavanagh, who plays Thawne, and Grant Gustin, who plays Barry, about.

further reading: Everything We Know About the Elseworlds Crossover

“I feel like we’ve kind of always known [he’d be back],” said Cavanagh. “That was the reason for me to sign on to the show … You don’t want to overdo it, but I think Batman is best when Joker’s not too far away. And Superman is great when Lex Luthor is the foil. And I think Flash is no different. When there’s the threat of Reverse Flash, that quickens the heartbeat a little bit, and I think it’s good for our show.”

As for Gustin, he said he’d heard “whispers” of Thawne’s return before the season started, and that The Flash producer Todd Helbing mentioned that Nora would be working with Thawne “in some capacity” during the production of the first few episodes of the season.

“But we didn’t really understand how that relationship started, or in what capacity they’re working together,” elaborated Gustin.

further reading: Inside the Most Chilling Scene in The Flash 100th Episode

How long will it be before Barry discovers Nora’s very big secret?

“The 100th is episode eight, and we’re now shooting 11 of 22,” said Gustin at the 100th episode celebration last month, “and that grenade has not exploded yet.”

So I still don’t know exactly how that’s going to go down,” continued Gustin. “I’m excited to see how it plays out, though, as Grant. I know Barry is going to be livid when he finds out about that, but yeah, I don’t know…”

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.