Leading up to the 2017 The Button crossover, Thawne returns with his Pre- New 52 memories restored after a mysterious wave of energy strikes his alternate self, and he recalls being killed by Thomas Wayne during Flashpoint. Seeking revenge, Thawne attacks Bruce Wayne in the Batcave and destroys Thomas's letter. Thawne brutally beats and verbally taunts Bruce before picking up the Comedian's smiley-face pin, which teleports him away to an unknown location. Thawne is then teleported back to the Batcave, having been bathed in radiation by a mysterious entity. As he collapses, Thawne says "God...I saw...God." Batman and Barry later come across Thawne in possession of the Button shortly before his apparent death, and follow him in an attempt to prevent it. As he follows the traces leading to the entity, Thawne muses that he may go back in time to raise his nemesis as a "family friend" after killing Nora, but is killed by Doctor Manhattan and teleported back to the Batcave.