This character is Eobard Thawne, a resident of the 25 th Century who became obsessed with the Flash, going so far as duplicate the Flash’s powers and traveling back in time to meet the Flash, where he instead learns that he’s destined to become the Flash’s greatest enemy and die at his hands. The CW’s Reverse-Flash, brought to life on The Flash by actor Tom Cavanagh, seems to have been largely inspired by the original Reverse-Flash. To start, it helps to look at two different eras when talking about the Reverse-Flash and Zoom: before The New 52 and after. So let’s take a quick look at these quick heavies and see if we can clear up some of the confusion that surrounds them. Only for a variety of reasons, that distinction has now become muddied.

Think Jason Todd and Tim Drake becoming “the new Robin” or Jaime Reyes becoming “the new Blue Beetle.” The character we now know as Zoom was basically the “new Reverse-Flash” for a time. The answer isn’t without its intricacies, but in simplest terms it’s that Zoom, who made his first appearance in 2001, was meant to be something of a new take on the earlier Reverse-Flash, who first appeared in 1963 and was deceased in comic book continuity in 2001. So what gives? Why are these two baddies so hard to tell apart? In the comics, the Reverse-Flash is also commonly referred to as “Professor Zoom,” or simply “Zoom.” And in some comics, Eobard Thawne is the Reverse-Flash and in others he’s Zoom. And the likely confusion doesn’t end there. Notice anything? Yes, those are two different characters-characters who look nothing alike on the Flash TV series. That’s because this is the Reverse-Flash… However, if you’ve ever tried looking up the two characters in the comics, you were probably pretty surprised and VERY confused. While both characters are speedsters, on the show, they’re pretty different visually and motivationally. While many of Barry Allen’s popular comic book adversaries have already appeared on The Flash, his biggest challenges have been at the hands of two villains-the Reverse-Flash and Zoom.

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