A Guide to the Arrowverse’s Harrison Wellses

Tonight’s episode of The Flash introduced fans to not only to a first look at The Flash Museum and just how vicious Cicada is as a villain, but it also introduced a brand-new version of Harrison Wells.

A staple of The Flash, the show has had some variation of Harrison Wells from the very beginning. Played by Tom Cavanagh, each incarnation is unique and brings their own interesting flair to The CW series either for full seasons — such as Harry and H.R. — or just for a few episodes like some of the more colorful iterations.

With the introduction of yet another Wells this season, we thought it might be helpful to break down all of the versions of Harrison Wells currently running around in the Arrowverse Multiverse. While this list will note all of the Wellses seen on the show thus far, it’s important to keep in mind that there may be even more to come. Cavanagh teased during a set visit last season that there were plenty more Wellses that haven’t seen the light of day.

“I remember Steve Van Zandt saying that Bruce Springsteen always has a number of songs in the scrapbook, ready to go,” Cavanagh said during a set visit earlier this year. “Steve’s quote was, ‘It’s really annoying.’ I’m that way with characters. I have a number of them. It’s just a question of, ‘Well, do we want ten? Do we want two?’ We had a number of them at first. I was like, ‘Listen, the show The Flash should be about the Flash, and not about Wells. So, what will happen is if we do ten, we will end up cutting all their stuff because we can only really afford to have three or four scenes in this arc. We thought it best that we pare it down.’ We went from 10 to six to four, or so. And, so, I think it’s unfortunate the Russian didn’t see the light of day. But, if this show keeps going, there will be plenty of time.”

Read on for our guide to the Arroverse’s Harrison Wellses, but note: with the inclusion of Sherloque Wells there are spoilers for tonight’s episode of The Flash, “The Death of Vibe”, beyond.

“Harrison Wells”

The very first Wells isn’t really Harrison Wells at all.

Introduced to fans in Season 1, the man Barry Allen and audiences get to know as director of STAR Labs Harrison Wells is, in fact, Eobard Thawne. Thawne, Barry’s 25th century nemesis and descendent of Eddie Thawne, travelled back in time to destroy the Flash. As the Reverse-Flash, Thawne murders Nora Allen and frames Henry Allen for the crime. He later kills the real Harrison Wells, steals his identity, and sets into motion the events that turn Barry Allen in to The Flash. At the end of Season 1, Eddie kills himself in order to erase Thawne from existence.

However, Thawne reappears in Season 4 as one of the main antagonists in “Crisis on Earth-X”. His return isn’t explained, but he taunts Barry after the speedster chooses to spare Thawne’s life, telling him he might well return with another identity and another face in the future.

Earth-1 Harrison Wells

The real Harrison Wells also appeared in Season 1, albeit in flashback. A kind, intelligent man devoted to his wife, he is murdered by Thawne who uses a futuristic device that allows him to take on the real Wells’ form. Team Flash discovers this when an investigation into Wells’ wife’s, Tess Morgan, death leads them to discover the corpse of the real Wells.

Harrison “Harry” Wells (Earth-2)

Introduced in Season 2, Harry Wells is the Earth-2 counterpart to Harrison Wells and has many similarities to the Thawne Wells. On Earth-2 he was responsible for the creation of metahumans when Earth-2’s particle accelerator exploded, but Harry comes to Earth-1 after the speedster serial killer Hunter Zolomon/Zoom kidnaps Harry’s daughter, Jesse.

Harry has a rough start on Earth-1 as he is initially mistken for Thawne’s Wells, but eventually becomes a friend ot Team Flash and, after successfully defeating Zoom, Harry and Jesse return to Earth-2. Harry comes back to Earth-1 in Season 4 after a serious falling out with Jesse, who is now a speedster. Harry ends up being instrumental in the team’s fight against Clifford DeVoe/The Thinker, losing his intelligence and nearly his life in the process. While Harry has much of his mind restored, he loses his genius but is grateful for the emotional insight he’s gained and leaves to go home to his daughter on Earth-2.

H.R. Wells (Earth-19)

Season 3 saw the introduction of H.R. Wells from Earth-19. He comes in as a replacement for Harry having solved the complex mathematical equation Harry used to find said replacement. However, it turns out that H.R. wasn’t the genius his counterparts were. He confesses that he was more an ideas guy. He also turns out to be a novelist, sending fictionlized versions of his Team Flash adventures back home which gets him notcied by the enforcer, Gypsy. Turns out, interdimensional travel is a capital offense on Earth-19.

Ultimately, it’s not Gypsy who kills H.R. Instead, having become close with Team Flash H.R. sacrifices himself by disguising himself as Iris, saving her life and altering the course of the future when Savitar kills him in her stead.

Herr Wells (Earth-12)

A member of the Council of Wells brought in during Season 4 to deal with The Thinker, Harrison Wolfgang Wells — better known as Herr Wells — is a German writer and scientist from Earth-12. A bit snobby and condesescending he later kicks Harry out of the Council of Wells due to his deteriorating intelligence. Herr Wells also appears briefly in Season 5’s “The Death of Vibe” when the team calls for help figuring out who Cicada is. However, instead of being snobby and rude, Herr Wells seems genuinely starstruck to be talking to Barry and his family instead, much to Cisco’s annoyance.

H. Lothario Wells (Earth-47)

Another member of the Council of Wells (and who was also later expelled from the group) H. Lothario Wells is a wealthy, Hugh Hefner-like playboy scientiest from Earth-47. He later becomes part of the Council of Harrisons.

Wells 2.0 (Earth-22)

Another member of the Council of Wells, Wells 2.0 is a cyborg version who comes from the Mad Max style world of Earth-22.

Wells the Grey

Quickly rejected when he appeared from for the Council of Wells, Wells the Grey appears to be from a Lord of the Rings-style world designated as Earth-13. Not much is known about Earth-13 except for it might be home to magic, considering Wells the Grey reminds us a lot of Gandalf the Grey. 

Sonny Wells (Earth-24)

Hailing from Earth-24, Sonny Wells was introduced as a member of the Council of Harrisons in Season 4. Not much is known about him, but he gets his name from his “sunny disposition”. He’s smug, but believes deeply in being kind to others. His disposition leads Team Flash to realize they need to attack The Thinker situation from the emotional perspective, not scientific one.

H.P. Wells (Earth-25)

Earth-25’s H.P. Wells was also a member of the Council of Harrisons. A French poet, he may not have had the book smarts that many of the other Wellses possessed, he was very emotionally intelligent — which was perfect for the kinder, gentler, Council of Harrisons.

Sherloque Wells (Earth- )

The newest Wells to be introduced, Sherloque Wells is a mystery. It’s unclear what Earth he comes from, but he presents himself as a master detective. That may or may not be true, but he charged Team Flash an insane amount of money for his services. When he turned out to be wrong about Cicada’s real identity, he wasn’t able to refund the team’s money either. Sherloque spent it all in, well, a flash and while he claimed it all went to his many ex-wives. Sherloque tried to escape, but Team Flash is making sure he stays put until he refunds their money.

Other Wells

 

In addition to the previously named Wells, there are a handful of others seen ever briefly. These other variants include the cowboy Hells Wells from an unknown Earth, the British steampunk Wells from Earth-17, and a mime Wells from another unknown Earth. These three Wellses all responded to Harry’s mathematical equation but were rejected.

Of course, these may not be the only versions Wells we see on The Flash. Tom Cavanagh revealed in an interview earlier this year that there are many more Wellses in his “bucket”.

“This year, I’ve pulled out the ones that I wanted to at least get out right now, but we’ve got plenty more in the bucket,” admitted Cavanagh at the time. “When I do different characters on the show, my goal is to try and fill gaps that we have and openings that we have on the show.”

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.