The Flash's Tom Cavanagh had doubts about his future on the show after season 1
The Flash star Tom Cavanagh has reflected on the longevity of the hit CW superhero show, sharing that there was a time when he wasn't sure if he'd be able to continue on the show beyond the first season.
Cavanagh was introduced in The Flash's first season as Harrison Wells and his impersonator Eobard Thawne, and he's played a different version of Wells in each season since.
Speaking to Digital Spy and other media at Comic-Con International, Cavanagh admitted that after his first season run as Harrison Wells/Reverse-Flash was done, he wasn't sure how he could return.
"I think when we finished season one, we were like, 'Okay that's it'. We did Flash versus Reverse-Flash, and then it's like, 'Alright, I'm good'. That was well done," Cavanagh remembered.
After he was then asked if he thought his time on the show was done after the first season, he continued: "There was some discussion of just playing Harrison Wells, and I wasn't interested. I was there to be Reverse-Flash.
"And then the idea was: 'Well, we're always going to need the villain, what if we came down this avenue that we've gone down now of creating 17 different people?'
"We didn't walk into this show going, 'We'll do Reverse-Flash and 17 others like Sherloque Wells. That was a necessity that was born out the fact that the show managed to sustain itself and so, for me to be the guy that is on a long-running show and playing multiple characters – it's a tremendous situation."
The actor also said being on a show that's been on air as long as The Flash has is a "rarity" and he's grateful for the opportunity, calling it "an amazing privilege".
"I think my perspective on the show is a little different than maybe some of the younger cast mates only because I think I understand it to be fleeting maybe more than they do," he reflected.
"My generation of shows, like Cheers or Seinfeld or Friends – the shows that lasted the longest – I feel like they’ve been over forever.
"So to be on a show this long-running is a rarity in and of itself, and something that’s happened in 30 years of doing this very rarely. And so I think mostly I approach it from gratitude.
"And then when you’re on a show that's a long-running show and you have the chance to develop more than one character, that's an amazing privilege. I wouldn't be on the show if it wasn't for the fact that I'm the Joker to the Batman, but as the Reverse-Flash to the Flash."
Cavanagh was also full of praise for Arrowverse TV boss Greg Berlanti, calling him "an incredible showrunner".
"We've done a couple of shows together," he said. "Both of them – one had lasted one season, the other one lasted three, but they always had the Sword of Damocles hanging over it.
"In this one, I remember him saying, 'We've got a chance to do The Flash, I just want to do that one year, DVD on my desk, done', you know?
"You have to remember, when this show started, he wasn’t like 'Greg Berlanti'. All good things come to a guy like that. I think he's phenomenal. He's an incredible showrunner. He's a man who’s got… you know, didn't he ink like a $[300] million deal? He's still the humble guy that I knew when we did Jack & Bobby. He's an incredible guy."
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During Comic-Con, The Flash's showrunner Eric Wallace confirmed that the upcoming sixth season of the TV show will feature two villains, with one of them being Dr Ramsey Rosso aka Bloodwork.
"The big bad this season, if we can do our jobs right, will be the most personal villain the Flash has ever faced emotionally since Eobard Thawne," he teased.
The Flash airs on The CW in the US. Sky One and NOW TV air the show in the UK. For all the news you need from Comic-Con, you can go right here.
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