Brandon Routh knows the ins and outs of playing a superhero on the big screen, and soon enough he’ll take that experience and transplant it to the small screen.
The man who once portrayed Superman for director Bryan Singer has signed on to join The CW’s Arrow as Ray Palmer, per TVLine. Ray Palmer may sound like any other ordinary name, but in the DC Comics universe, he is anything but ordinary.
To comics fans, Palmer is also known by his superhero alter-ego, The Atom. He’s a superhero who is capable of growing and shrinking at will, as well as applying this special skill to objects around him. Though he is unable to fly, he can manipulate the particles around him to make it appear as if he is flying.
In Arrow, Palmer is a scientist and inventor who takes over Queen Consolidated in the aftermath — or make that bloodbath — of the Season 2 finale. He’s rumored to be a new love interest for Felicity considering Barry Allen has moved on in lightning speed, and like Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight films, his use of the Applied Sciences Division will be shrouded in mystery from those around him.
Bringing in a movie actor such as Routh to play a character that will eventually have superpowers in a show deliberately devoid of superpowers will fan the Arrow/Justice League crossover fire once again. Or, depending on how the character is received, we could be seeing another setup for a spin-off series centered on The Atom much like The Flash was introduced last year.
We’ll find out more about the Brandon Ruth Arrow scoop and other Arrow Season 3 surprises at Comic-Con later this month.
Routh joins previously cast Arrow Season 3 newcomers including Peter Stormare as Vertigo; Devon Aoki as heroine Katana; and Karl Yune as Katana’s husband, Maseo Yamashiro.
