| Malcolm Thawne | |
|---|---|
| Biological Information | |
| Species | Meta-human |
| Status | Alive |
| Universe Information | |
| Home universe | Earth-1590 |
| General Information | |
| Occupation | Scientist Criminal (secret) Leader of Team Reverse-Flash (secret) |
| Family | Nora Thawne (mother; deceased) Jay Garrick (father; estranged) Robern Thawne (stepfather; estranged) Eddie Thawne (cousin-law; deceased) Joan Williams (stepmother; estranged) |
| Alter ego | Reverse-Flash |
| Actor | Grant Gustin |
| Source | |
Malcolm Thawne aka Reverse-Flash is a metahuman speedster, son and nemesis of Jay Garrick/Flash and occasional Earth-2014 Flash, Barry Allen.
Biography[]
Early life[]
In college, Nora Thompson met medical student Jay Garrick, and the two fell in love and became a couple. After graduation, Nora found herself torn between becoming a real estate agent and pursuing a career in academia. She wanted to travel, and her second job would make things easier; Jay, in turn, was torn between medicine and research, but either way, Nora, would have to choose a sedentary lifestyle. Jay ultimately opted for research, and Nora decided to leave him and become a graduate assistant. Some time later, Nora discovered she was pregnant and tried to contact Jay, but he never called her back.
Nora tried to find him, but she saw that he was already with another woman and decided to give up. Eventually, she agreed to a marriage of convenience with Robern Thawne, so when her son was born, she named him Malcolm Thawne.
Robern was initially willing to be a father to Malcolm, but due to complications during childbirth, Nora was unable to have any more children, and this made him bitter toward his stepson. Since he was nominally part of the wealthy and prestigious Thawne family, Malcolm was always pressured to do his best. His stepfather was cold and distant towards him and tolerated him only for Nora's sake.
Discover the truth[]
Shortly after Malcolm graduated high school, Nora was killed during a bank robbery. Since he was now of age, his stepfather told him the truth and sent him away from home, saying that he had no intention of furthering his wife's youthful mistakes, making it clear that he had kept him just for her.
Eddie: I found you an apartment. It's small and on the outskirts, but it's decent.
Malcolm: How much is the rent?
Eddie: Nothing.
Malcolm: Nothing?! Why?
Eddie: Because I'm paying your rent. A trust fund has to be good for something.
Malcolm: Eddie, I don't know what to say... I'll give you your money back. Every last cent.
Malcolm was devastated, but fortunately his cousin Eddie, upon learning what had happened, decided not to leave him on the street and took him in for a few days. Eddie paid for his room and helped him get a job as a delivery boy, so Malcolm could continue his studies and enter the academic world as a scientist. He was immensely grateful to Eddie and from that moment on was always happy to be able to do something for him.
Becoming Reverse-Flash[]
Malcolm went to work at S.T.A.R. Labs. At one point, journalist Iris West had to write a story about the facility, and he acted as her guide and mentor. He invited her to dinner, and she accepted. The two began dating, and Iris revealed that she, too, had a difficult family background. Eventually, they fell in love, and Malcolm proposed, and Iris accepted. For the first time in his life, young Thawne felt that everything was right.
Unfortunately, Malcolm's happiness was short-lived. After the rehearsal dinner, Eddie, his best man, discovered his car wouldn't start, and Malcolm was happy to give him a ride, but they stumbled upon Flash and Zoom fighting. Flash attempted to throw a lightning bolt at his enemy, but he deflected it. He then attempted to fire a series of lightning bolts at him, but Zoom was faster and caught the bolts and hurled them away. One of them hit Malcolm's car, causing it to explode. He was thrown out and survived, but Eddie broke his neck, while a piece of iron lodged itself in Iris's skull, piercing her brain.
Malcolm woke up in a hospital to learn that the love of his life and his dearest friend, almost a brother to him, had died instantly. Enraged, he swore vengeance against Flash and Zoom, holding them responsible. When he was released, he decided to discover the identity of his enemies and since Flash had been injured in the fight, he bribed a forensic scientist to get samples of his blood, hoping to analyze it and understand how to become a speedster.
"By comparing his DNA with Flash's, he could understand what made him the way he was and perhaps become like him. The tests were ready, and the results were better than he'd ever hoped. Flash's DNA was very similar to his, it would have been easy to make comparisons. In fact, it was too similar to his; it couldn't have been a coincidence".
To get a clearer picture, Malcolm compared Flash's DNA with his own and discovered they were very similar. Puzzled, he took a paternity test and discovered that whoever Flash was was his biological father. This discovery shocked him, and he realized that the same man had ruined his life twice, and he decided to make him pay in the most atrocious way possible. Malcolm discovered that Flash appeared shortly before he was born, so he deduced that he must have acquired his powers before conceiving him, which is why he didn't inherit them. Since discovering Flash's true identity would be of inestimable benefit to him, he began investigating his biological father, something he had never wanted to do before.
He reconstructed his mother's life and discovered that she had been dating a boy named Jay Garrick. He went to her house, but Garrick's wife told him that her husband had been missing for months, exactly as long as Flash had, which confirmed his hypothesis. Since Flash and Zoom hadn't seen each other for months, the general assumption was that they had eliminated each other, but shortly thereafter, Flash reappeared, and Malcolm continued his plans.
Studying Jay Garrick's life, he discovered that shortly before the Flash's appearance, he had been involved in a laboratory accident and realized that this had turned him into a metahuman. He studied the data and decided to recreate him so he could become a speedster himself. The experiment was successful, but due to several substances used that seemed better to him, Malcolm connected to the Negative Speed Force instead of the normal one and took the final step towards becoming a criminal.
"If it didn't work, it would be the worst ghost Jay Garrick had ever seen," he told himself before electrocuting himself. But he felt good. Great. He tried to run. A moment later, he was in the middle of the street, overtaking a taxi. A fierce cry of triumph escaped his throat. He had done it!"
However, given that Jay had decades of experience, Malcolm realized he needed to train extensively before he was ready to begin his revenge. However, he began by returning to his old home and beating up Robern Thawne. After slaughtering him, he stole some money from the house to create a costume for himself. He was partially inspired by the Zoom costume, which had apparently mauled Flash, but gave it a similar coloration to Jay's, but darker.
First clashes with Flash[]
Malcolm decided that before killing Jay, he would completely destroy him and began studying Flash's career. Shortly afterward, he killed Tony Bellows, a police officer who was the first known person Flash had saved, and left a note on his body that read, "I'm coming for you." Malcolm then began killing the people Flash had saved and destroying the places that had somehow benefited from his help.
Flash finally figured out what he was doing and intercepted him.
Flash: Another one like me, but abusing his abilities.
Reverse-Flash: I'm not like you, Flash. In fact, you can call me Reverse-Flash.
On that occasion, Malcolm officially introduced himself as the Reverse-Flash. The two fought, and Malcolm's training proved effective, as he matched his father's decades of experience, while he had only had his speed for a few months. He continued his campaign of terror, and soon people no longer wanted the Flash's help, knowing they would end up in the Reverse-Flash's crosshairs.
At that point, Malcolm decided to hit Jay more personally and attacked his wife. On the first rainy night, he caused an explosion and, taking advantage of Jay's rush to help the injured, broke into his house and kidnapped Joan, dousing her, and taking her to the roof of the lab where Jay had gained his powers, tying her to the lightning rod.
Flash: Reverse-Flash! Let her go!
Reverse-Flash: I'm so glad you were so quick. What a view! I recognize your house. Oh, and mine too.
Flash: All right! I get it! You know who I am! You took my wife hostage, you're pointing to where I live, and you're on the roof of the building where I got my powers. Now tell me what you want from me and let my wife go.
Reverse-Flash: Why would I do that? The woman who was about to become mine died because of you.
Flash: What do you mean... I've never killed anyone.
Reverse-Flash: Yes, you have. You've ruined my life on more than one occasion, so now I'll return the favor. Joan will only be the first. I'll kill everyone you care about. Anyone who knows you, anyone who's ever called you a friend is on my list, Jay.
Flash: At least tell me what I did.
Reverse-Flash: What a great idea! And then maybe you'll suggest another way to waste my time waiting for reinforcements? Sure, the rain's getting worse... as soon as lightning strikes, I might go and kill the night watchman... Of course, if you chase me, Joan will be fried alive... Will you act like a true hero, or like a man who's been married for decades?
Reverse-Flash taunted his nemesis and Jay leapt at him at top speed, before he could kill his stepmother. The two fought furiously, but Jay used his helmet to produce a shockwave that destroyed the lightning rod and held the other speedster off while Joan escaped. Malcolm eventually managed to escape, albeit with difficulty, but he and Jay had seriously injured each other. As soon as he recovered, he killed Julio Mendez, a police officer friend and supporter of Flash, and left his body in front of the Garrick house that night.
Malcolm also attacked Jay professionally, exposing every flaw in his theories and research, making him look like a washed-up old man and continuing to attack him almost daily, eliminating anyone who was a Flash supporter or a friend of the Garricks, killing, wounding, or maiming them.
Eventually, Jay, in desperation, decided to go to Earth-2014 to ask for help from that world's Flash, Barry Allen.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Negative Speed Force Connection / Metahuman Physiology: Replicating the circumstances that gave the Flash his powers, Malcolm connected to the Negative Speed Force and became connected to it, thus, his physiology was greatly augmented beyond peak human performance, allowing him to handle extreme physical exertion and performance.
Notes and Trivia[]
- Malcolm's world is Earth-1590, in honor of the year the concept of the multiverse was introduced to the Arrowverse and the year the original Flash series aired.
- In the comics, Malcolm Thawne is Barry Allen's twin brother, believed to be stillborn by his parents and given up to the Thawne family.