Ahead of tonight’s airing, The CW has released a clip from “Dead Man Running,” the latest episode of The Flash — and in it is the first extended look at the newest iteration of Tom Cavanagh’s Harrison Wells. Cavanagh returns this season to play yet another new iteration of the character — and will also appear as Pariah in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” as well as the Reverse-Flash (we assume). So far, as know very little about the character who will be a regular part of Team Flash this season — except that, as we see in the scene above, it’s another “angry” version of STAR Labs founder Harrison Wells and has a distinctly Bat-influenced score when he comes on the scene.
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Also, he seems to be looking for Iris West-Allen. While this scene implies he has bad intentions, it seems pretty likely that is not the case, and this will all have been a hilarious misunderstanding. We also can’t help but feel that with that jacket and gauntlets, he reminds us a little bit of the cinematic take on The Shocker, played by Logan Marshall Green in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The CW’s DC TV series panel at San Diego Comic-Con already featured a few of the reveals around the multiverse-altering event. Executive producer Eric Wallace mentioned there that Tom Cavanagh would appear as Pariah in “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” The showrunner continued to mention that the actor will be playing two different characters and one would be working for the Anti-Monitor in some capacity.
He explained to the crowd, “In the original miniseries, it’s Pariah who is very much integral in releasing the Anti-Multiverse. For Tom to play such a pivotal character… it’s just going to tear your guts out and make you cry.”
Wallace wouldn’t divulge the reason behind Cavanagh’s new role, as it is scheduled to be revealed at the end of the first “graphic novel.” He teased that these developments, “lead up to a very, very big twist at the end of the Bloodwork case that launches ‘Crisis.’”
For fans of the 12-issue comic book limited series that serves as the crossover’s source material, Pariah is a pretty big deal. As one of Earth’s greatest scientists, Kell Mossa’s (Pariah) experiments led to the Anti-Monitor’s discovery of Earth. Pariah then survives to travel the remaining Earths with The Monitor. He carries a lot of guilt over the destruction of his world, similarly to Harrison Wells of other planets that The Flash has encountered.
The Flash returns for its sixth season this fall, pitting Barry Allen against new and old foes while on an apparent suicide run toward the destiny he has been hoping to avoid since the series premiered. Way back in 2014, fans learned that — as in the comics — Barry Allen would give his life in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, helping to turn back the Anti-Monitor and save the multiverse. That event would take place in May of 2024…or so we all thought. Due to some changes to the timestream during the last season of The Flash, Barry’s date with destiny has been moved up to December 2019, when all five of The CW’s interconnected DC Comics shows will cross over for “Crisis On Infinite Earths,” and fans will get to see how Barry tries to outrun his fate.
The Flash airs on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, before episodes of Arrow.
