Tom Cavanagh Calls His Latest Version of Harrison Wells A "Con Man"

11/01/2016 09:00 am EDT

If the trailer for tonight's episode of The Flash is any indication, audiences should learn a little bit about H.R. Wells -- the latest iteration of Tom Cavanagh's Harrison Wells -- tonight.

While visiting the show's set yesterday, ComicBook.com was among a small group of reporters who got to talk to Cavanagh about what's coming up, with the veteran actor relishing the comedic bent he's been able to take the character this season and telling reporters that there was basically a whole day of ad libbing when it came time for him to record the various Harrison Wellses from throughout the multiverse who appeared in last week's episode.

Of the character who ended up coming to Earth-1 to stay, Cavanagh wouldn't say much -- but he teased that, as in past years, audiences will have to figure out for themselves whether his character is trustworthy.

"He's a bit of a con man and the same element of 'can you trust him, or not?' is there, but in a different way," Cavanagh told a group of reporters on the set of The Flash yesterday. "A superhero show works best with conflict, large and small, and I'm happy to drop off these little firebombs here and there," he said. "This is one more fire that they have to put out, and is it better to extinguish it completely, or to keep the embers burning?"

The motivation, Cavanagh said, was to try and craft a character who served the narrative and who could be fun, and bring some comedic flavor, without hijacking or undermining the more serious narrative at play in the show.

The inspiration came from taking a look at the Team Flash dynamic and determining where he thought there were possible holes to be filled.

"Last year I was trying to fill in gaps that we don't have on a daily basis on our show: we have a big bad, but not a daily antagonist," Cavanagh said. "Everybody is very winning on our show....They're so great, that I thought it would be a guy who wasn't great. That's what I was last year; it's good to have a daily antagonist, someone you can't trust, a malcontent -- a bit of a bitch, socially inept. But ultimately he's kind of a good guy. In the first season, he seems good but he's bad and in the second season, he seems bad, but he's good, and then in the third season -- well, I wonder what he is? A bit of a con man."

What kind of con, and how might it affect his long-term prospects for the team? Maybe we'll get a little sense of it tonight.

The Flash airs on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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