6 Intriguing Theories About Zoom’s Identity In The Flash

One of the most enjoyable aspects of The Flash's first season was trying to figure out who the Reverse-Flash was. While the first episode may have revealed that it was Dr. Harrison Wells, fans spent the entire year trying to figure out whether he was really Eobard Thawne or if someone else was in the costume and Wells was just a decoy. The answer ended up being extremely satisfying and one which is still being discussed, and now season two's big mystery revolves around the identity of Zoom. We've so far seen only snippets of him in action (like in his fight with The Flash in the video above), and with only a voice actor cast so far, there are almost countless possibilities for who may be the one beneath that demonic mask. While looking to the comics doesn't provide any firm answers, the information in those and the clues which The Flash has so far dropped have been compiled here to come up with just six of the craziest and most likely possibilities for who might be Zoom. Some of these theories are pretty out there, but they're all well worth considering and looking into. 6) Eobard Thawne Is Somehow Involved At the end of The Flash's first season, Eobard Thawne (a.k.a. Harrison Wells) was wiped from reality when Eddie Thawne shot himself and caused his distant descendant to have never been born. However, time travel is a very complicated storytelling device, and if Thawne truly is no more, shouldn't everything that happened to Barry because of him also somehow been deleted? The Singularity was said to be the reason for such a significant fracture to the timeline, but regardless of the scientific reasons behind Eobard's "demise," Reverse-Flash is too great a villain to waste on a single season. Is he beneath Zoom's mask? Personally, I don't think so, but Eobard - or at least another version of him from a different timeline - somehow being involved makes perfect sense. I can't help but escape the feeling that Zoom stealing Jay Garrick's speed could have something to do with Thawne's need for speed when he's cut off from the Speed Force, and him being revealed as the one pulling the strings would make for a great last second reveal. Either way, with Matt Letscher expected to make another appearance down the line, we definitely haven't seen the last of the Reverse-Flash. 5) Jay Garrick May Not Be Who He Says All signs point to Jay Garrick being a good guy. Flashbacks have shown that he butted heads with Harrison Wells on Earth-2 about how best to deal with Zoom, but Jay's story of being sent to Earth-1 after his nemesis stole his speed seems a little too convenient. Why didn't Zoom steal Barry's speed before parading him around Central City? It looked like a simple enough procedure when he supposedly did it to Jay, and The Flash of Earth-2 deciding to make himself scarce as soon as Zoom made his first physical appearance in front of Team Flash is more than a little coincidental and odd. What if Jay Garrick is Zoom then? It may seem ridiculously far-fetched, but there are certainly enough signs pointing to this being the case to at least acknowledge it as a very real possibility. The Flash's producers have already said that they're handling Zoom a lot differently to the comic books, and Jay's grudge against Wells would certainly explain why Zoom has targeted his daughter. What Jay/Zoom is gaining from pretending to be powerless and working with Team Flash is a little harder to explain of course, but there's definitely something about Jay which makes him hard to trust. 4) He's Barry Allen (No, Not That One) When The Flash travelled through time at the end of season one, we got a glimpse into what appeared to be several different futures and timelines. Those included a glimpse at Killer Frost and a museum dedicated to The Fastest Man Alive, but one of the most intriguing shots was of Barry Allen in prison. Since then, fans have widely speculated that we were seeing the fate of Earth-2's Barry (why he's behind bars is obviously something no one knows at this stage), and that makes sense. However, what if that blink and you'll miss it scene was actually a glimpse at the villainous Zoom's origin? Like so many other DC Comics characters, Zoom is someone The Flash can take and really do anything with due to the character having such a varied and lengthy history, so making him an evil Barry could work. This would go some way in explaining why Zoom wants to kill his Earth-1 doppelgänger and why he didn't bother to unmask him when he had the chance. If the Earth-2 Barry gained his abilities in some sort of prison accident, then his story would make an interesting parallel to the version we all know and love, especially if that Barry was perhaps responsible for killing his own mother. 3) He's Actually The Rival Only one man has actually gone by the name "Zoom" in The Flash comic books, and that's Hunter Zolomon. While Eobard Thawne has been known as Professor Zoom from time to time, Hunter - a cop who worked closely with the Wally West Flash - took this mantle after the Scarlet Speedster refused to travel back in time to save his friend's legs after a tragic accident. Had we actually been introduced to a version of Hunter, him being Zoom would definitely work, but it doesn't really make sense here. Instead, it's actually far more likely that this Zoom is instead a new take on The Rival. Edward Clariss was a professor who was ridiculed after claiming to have recreated the formula which turned Jay Garrick into The Flash and so used the formula to become a villain. The Rival is in many ways the first Reverse-Flash, and while his origin story would need to be tweaked in a major way to work in this series, us getting some sort of amalgamation of Hunter Zolomon and The Rival makes perfect sense. Sure, it means that this big bad has a greater connection to Jay than he does Barry, but that could still work so long as the Earth-2 Flash takes a greater role in the story from here. 2) He's Henry Allen As you may have already seen, there's a very popular theory doing the rounds that Zoom shares the same eyes as the actor who plays Henry Allen. That may seem like a stretch, but there's definitely a similarity there, and Barry's father being revealed as a villain would certainly be a blow to the young hero. Of course, the most likely explanation for that would be that he's the Earth-2 Henry Allen, someone who quite possibly went mad after his son killed his wife and ended up behind bars. Gaining the abilities of Zoom could even have been what really pushed him over the edge. Going this route could lead to a really twisted and upsetting origin story which parallels that of the Barry Allen we know from Earth-1, and Henry's strange decision to abandon his son immediately after being released from prison (to go fishing) would certainly make a lot more sense if we were to learn that the man who did that was actually his Earth-2 counterpart. There are a number of ways they could go with this, and as Henry was at one-time a fan-favourite suggestion for the real Reverse-Flash, don't be at all surprised to see him somehow factor into a big Zoom reveal. 1) He's A Resurrected Eddie Thawne I mentioned Hunter Zolomon a little earlier, and if there's one character who at least vaguely matches up to him in this world, it's Eddie Thawne. While Eddie may have been seemingly quite happy to have sacrificed himself to kill the Reverse-Flash, who knows what kind of strange transformation his body went through when he was sucked into the Singularity. For starters, that might go some way in explaining Zoom's demonic appearance, while a now very insane Eddie wanting revenge on The Flash for failing to save him is definitely a story which could work for this take on the character. The big thing going against this theory is the fact that flashbacks have shown Zoom attacking Jay Garrick when the Singularity opened, but time travel is a weird thing, so there's no doubt a way that the show's very clever writers could address that particular plot hole. Eddie becoming a speed demon of sorts would lead to a massive reveal and definitely makes Zoom's decision to humiliate The Flash in front of Central City a little more understandable. Oh, and let's not forget what Zoom said about heroes dying; that could have easily been a reference to the way Eddie sacrificed himself.