Thawne is introduced and featured most prominently in the television series The Flash, though he has also appeared in spin-off shows and crossover events set in the shared fictional universe.

He originally idolized the Flash and replicated the accident that gave him his powers, but became obsessed with ruining his life upon learning that he was destined to become his greatest enemy–the Reverse-Flash.

Though he is defeated by the Flash, he returns to torment him numerous times, which has brought him into conflict with other heroes including Green Arrow, Supergirl, and the Legends of Tomorrow.

Labs in Central City, spending the next fourteen years building a particle accelerator to empower the Flash apparently ahead of schedule.

[10][1] "Wells", along with Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon, mentors Barry in defeating metahuman criminals caused by the particle accelerator explosion.

[11][12] To that end, Thawne also taunts and bests Barry as a tachyon-enhanced speedster–initially referred to as the "Man in Yellow" before he's dubbed the Reverse-Flash by Cisco.

[16] Thawne survives his erasure following Eddie's sacrifice due to his connection to the Negative Speed Force, which renders him immune to timeline changes.

[20][21] In 2034, Thawne is captured and imprisoned in Iron Heights Penitentiary,[22] where he is routinely tortured by a corrupt prison guard[22] while a dagger that had belonged to the metahuman serial killer Cicada[18] dampens his super-speed.

[24][25] Barry and Iris West-Allen later have the Speed Force reconstitute Thawne's corporeal form in exchange for his aid in subduing Godspeed.

However, Barry reconnects to the Speed Force to avert the impending "Armageddon" and restores the timeline, resulting in Thawne beginning to fade from existence.

[28] Thawne gets displaced, along with Zoom, Savitar and Godspeed, by the Negative Speed Force (via Eddie) for a showdown against Team Flash.

Barry absorbs the Positive Forces of Nature's power to be Thawne's equal, and the two speedsters engage in fight a that threatens to bring about Armageddon.

[33] Seeking to cement his existence, Thawne forms a legion of villains to locate the fabled Spear of Destiny and rewrite reality to their whims.

[36] The Speed Force later revives the time remnant (albeit powerless) to defend a certain fixed point, but Thawne aids the Legends before he's killed by Sara Lance's android doppelgänger and Nate Heywood's android doppelgänger gets tricked in his place as the fixed point's defender.

[37][38] As a reward for his sacrifice in protecting the timeline, Thawne’s time remnant is offered an opportunity for redemption when the Speed Force resurrects him without his memories.

Feeling inexplicably compelled to be a speedster, he works with Fast Track Labs' CEO Meena Dhawan to create an artificial Speed Force device.

Regarding this, co-creator Andrew Kreisberg said the character Eddie Thawne served as a red herring so that comic book fans would suspect the latter is the Reverse-Flash because of their same surname without realizing it is actually Wells.

'[43] Letscher was offered the role in December 2014,[44] being cast due to his previous collaboration with Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti in the ABC television series Eli Stone.

[57] Cavanagh has stated many times that he enjoys playing Eobard Thawne as the character is interesting, complex, and challenging.

"[62] Kreisberg insisted that Thawne was not entirely evil because his fatherly affection for Cisco was genuine, and "he has a reason for doing what he's doing and he has an agenda and he thinks of himself as the hero ... bad people are capable of incredible amounts of kindness and generosity".

[69] Rotten Tomatoes ranked Cavanagh's Reverse-Flash as the Scariest Character on Comic Book Television as of November 2019.

[70] Chancellor Agard from Entertainment Weekly wrote "No matter how many ups and downs The Flash has had over its run, it has never faltered when it comes to its characterization of Thawne.

"[71] The Flash's Eobard Thawne was ranked number 35 on Rolling Stone's list of the 40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time.

[74] Cavanagh received an IGN Awards nomination for Best TV Villain for his portrayal of the character in The Flash.