"The Flash's" Cosnett Is a Perfect Cop - Who May Be Facing a Reversal

The good-looking, charismatic and exceedingly likable young police detective who's partnered with Barry Allen's foster father, and gotten even closer to Iris Allen, may by an irritation to the emerging young hero, but the actor who plays Eddie Thawne believes he may likely turn into an even more formidable enemy,

Rick Cosnett, previously best known for his stint as Dr. Wes Maxfield on The CW's "The Vampire Diaries," moves to Central City to play Thawne, professional partner of Det. Joe West and boyfriend of Joe's daughter Iris. In a one-on-one chat with Comic Book Resources, the CW veteran revealed that the similarity of his character's name to that of DC Comics' Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. The Reverse Flash, is, of course, no coincidence. And while he stopped short of promising that he'll be donning a yellow-hued outfit, Cosnett seemed pretty certain that the series' costume-clad contingent would be growing early on in its run.

CBR News: Tell me, how does your character fit into the ensemble of "The Flash."

Rick Cosnett: I play Det. Eddie Thawne, so I'm part of the Central City Police Department, and Jesse L. Martin is my partner. I may or may not strike up a love interest with one of the characters on the show, which proves to be very interesting because there's a love triangle happening, and Eddie kind of comes in and saves the day, much to Barry's dismay, all the time. [Laughs] Because he's someone who you just can't help but like, it makes it even more irritating. He's really golden, in every sense of the word. Eddie's really someone who I've always wanted to be! [Laughs] He's a good sport, he's able, he's intelligent, but most of all, he doesn't really have issues with anyone, which I think makes it even worse for poor Barry.

It sounds, based on his last name, as if he may be the white sheep of a very dark family tree.

Yes, I think that's going to be the intriguing thing to see, whether he's the white or the black sheep of this family of Thawnes. I think the producers are up to do a lot of twists and to really shock the fans, especially in terms of the first season. The intriguing thing is, "Who are these people, really?" We're trying to show the humanity of them, in social situations and in the present day, I think. It's also quite funny, which I think is going to be surprising to people. It has little gags and everything. It's epic, but it's also human and funny.

To cover all possible bases, have you done all your Reverse-Flash research, digging into the comics to get a sense of that history?

Yes, I've done a lot of research. There's so much mythology around it, you don't really know which one's written where and by whom. But yeah, I've definitely done a lot of research on the Thawnes, and there's a lot of directions that [the show] could go -- especially because Geoff Johns, who's the CCO of DC [Entertainment], is one of the [series'] creators and writers. He just wrote one of the last episodes we shot. It's going to be sick to see, because they have full reign.

What intrigued you about the long Allen/Thawne family feud as you did your research?

It was fascinating to me, and I think the family lineage -- they're quite wealthy and they're from this old money world of deep, deep dark secrets. It's also fascinating with the whole Barry's twin [storyline], and who that is and who it's going to become. You also not only have the Reverse-Flash, you also have the Wally [West] kid, and we've had Wentworth Miller on the show and all sorts of amazing guest stars like Robbie Amell already. Things are turning over quite quickly, and I think you're going to see some people in other suits pretty soon.