It was revealed in the key art and announcement that the character The Ray will be in this year’s DC TV crossover… now, TV Line has revealed that the character, who will also soon have his own animated series on CW Seed, will be played in live action and voiced by Looking, Quantico, Doctor Who and Being Human veteran Russell Tovey!
Here’s the official character description for The Ray:
Raymond “Ray” Terrill was a reporter who discovered a group of government scientists working on a secret project to turn light into a weapon of mass destruction. But before he could report on his findings, the project head exposed Ray to a “genetic light bomb.” The bomb failed to kill him and instead gifted Ray with light-based powers. With these abilities, Ray realized he could go beyond reporting on injustice — he could take action to help stop it. Calling himself The Ray, he was recruited by Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters to fight violence and oppression wherever it exists.
The Ray came to the DC Universe as part of the original “Crisis on Earth X” story from the comic books and was probably most famous when the character was redesigned by artist Joe Quesada in the early 1990’s. Grant Morrison reinvented him again for Multiversity and he currently appears in DC’s Justice League of America comic book which is full of characters that are in the DC TV universe.
The world of DC Comics television has several LGBTQ+ characters including Sara Lance/White Canary, Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific, and Nyssa al Ghul; The Ray is another example of that continued representation as Ray Terrill is a gay man.
The DC TV crossover airs Monday, November 27 and Tuesday, November 28 on The CW.