Ray Palmer May Become The Atom…But Not On ARROW

By Adam Holmes on Sunday, October 5th, 2014

Ever since Brandon Routh was cast to play Ray Palmer in Arrow season 3, there’s been one question on the minds of fans: will he become the Atom. He may be vying for Queen Consolidated in the series, but in the comic books, Palmer’s forte is shrinking down to fight bad guys at DC’s tiniest hero. Several weeks back, Routh revealed that he’d seen concept art for a costume that Palmer will don, fueling those Atom fires even more. Well, good news and bad news, kids. The good news, it’s still possible we’ll see Palmer suit up as the Atom on TV at some point. The bad news, it probably won’t be on Arrow.

During a screening of the Arrow season 3 premiere, executive producer Marc Guggenheim told Green Arrow TV that while Palmer’s role on Arrow will be important, such as his plans for Queen Consolidated and Starling City, there won’t be any shrinking involved.

I think anything is possible. My instinct is that if Ray Palmer’s going to shrink, he’ll probably shrink on another show. With The Flash in existence, there’s no real compelling reason for us to do super powers on Arrow. We can bring characters to Flash to have super powers. We have plans for Ray that don’t involve shrinking, but our plans for Ray are actually really cool.

While Arrow season 2 introduced us to special abilities though the Mirakuru, it sounds like season 3 will be sticking with the “heightened reality” tone, and leaving the super powered elements to The Flash. Obviously that doesn’t mean the season won’t have a “comic book-y” feel to it. Considering that we’re getting characters like Ra’s al Ghul and Katana, the writers are clearly looking to the comics for inspiration. However, when it comes to action, Arrow will be the place to go primarily for grounded fighting, while The Flash will be the primo destination for superhuman showdowns and all that jazz.

As for that suit that Palmer will wear on Arrow, I’m guessing it’s a science-y suit that protects him from radiation or something along those lines. Whatever it does, don’t expect it to decrease his height significantly…for now. Remember, it’s like Guggenheim said: just because he won’t shrink on Arrow doesn’t mean Palmer can’t get his superhero on in The Flash. In fact, I’d welcome a live-action recreation of the cover below.