The Flash: Rick Cosnett Confirmed to Return For Season 8

The Flash‘s eighth season is just a matter of weeks away from debuting, with a new chapter that will begin with the five-episode “Armageddon” crossover event, which will feature cameo appearances from an array of established Arrowverse characters. As a new social media post from this week revealed, the surprising returns won’t stop once “Armageddon” comes to a close. TVLine recently confirmed that Rick Cosnett, who portrayed Eddie Thawne across the series’ first season, will be returning in an upcoming flashback episode of Season 8. This comes after Cosnett had taken to Instagram to share a photo of himself with long hair, teasing that a “special announcement” regarding The Flash was on the horizon. The actor later shared a photo of himself with shorter hair, with a caption of “if you hadn’t guessed… I’m in the new season of #TheFlash.”

While there’s no telling the extent of the flashback episode that Cosnett will be appearing in, the idea of him returning to the fold of The Flash is definitely surprising. Cosnett’s Eddie Thawne was an original cast member on the series, as a love interest of Iris West (Candice Patton) and the ancestor of the future-born Eobard Thawne (Matt Letcher). Eddie tragically ended his life in the Season 1 finale, as a way to wipe Eobard out of existence. Cosnett has since returned to the series twice, in the time-hopping Season 2 episode “Flash Back”, and as an avatar of the Speed Force in Season 3’s “Into the Speed Force.”

Some had speculated that Cosnett’s return — and particularly his longer hair in the first photo — could finally bring the fan theories surrounding Eddie becoming Cobalt Blue to reality. In the comics, Malcolm Thawne / Colbalt Blue is the long-lost twin brother of Barry Allen, and an evil speedster in his own right. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case this time around.

What do you think of Rick Cosnett returning to The Flash? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The Flash will return with new episodes on Tuesday, November 16th at 8/7c on The CW.