SPOILERS: One Of The DC Universe's Most Iconic Villains Has Finally Returned
This week's issue of The Flash featured the return of a major villain while also shedding some light on the changing status quo of the DC Universe as the histories of characters are finally restored...
Eobard Thawne/Zoom/Reverse-Flash was killed by Batman at the end of Flashpoint and a new version has since made his presence felt in the New 52 era DC Universe. To say he's paled in comparison to the previous version would be an understatement but at the end of this week's The Flash #19, the villain was finally restored to his old self.
This is significant for more than one reason, however. For starters, Thawne clearly remembers the events of Flashpoint, making him one of the only people in existence to have any sort of knowledge of the DC Universe before the timeline was changed. Also, over in "Superman Reborn", the Man of Steel and Lois Lane learned that they were split in two - the pre-Flashpoint and New 52 versions - when that event happened and their memories have now been combined to create a common history.
That means Superman is no longer a stranger to this DC Universe, but he also remembers what the world was life before Flashpoint. The same can now be said for Zoom and this could be an indication of how Rebirth will keep the New 52 continuity while also bringing back classic storylines and characters which were wiped from history.
Confused? Expect more to be revealed over the next few months as DC Rebirth rolls on...
About The Author:
A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.
While he's also written for websites like Batman-News, HeyUGuys, and WhatCulture, Josh is CBM's Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and the site's #1 contributor with nearly two decades of experience covering film and TV news (including interviews with Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Gary Oldman, Halle Berry, Jon Bernthal, Tom Welling, and hundreds more).
Based in the UK with his wife, Josh is also an avid WWE and Formula 1 fan and writes about those passions on CBM's sister sites, TheRingReport.com and FullThrottleHQ.com. Favourite superhero? Spider-Man. Favourite pro wrestler? CM Punk. Favourite F1 driver? Max Verstappen.