Brandon Routh To Play Atom On Arrow

It looks like everybody was wrong when they speculated that the tech-based superhero dating Felicity Smoak and serving as the season's biggest recurring guest stars on Arrow would be Ted "Blue Beetle" Kord.

Superman Returns star Brandon Routh will join the cast of the CW drama as Ray Palmer, the inventor and professor best known to DC Comics fans as The Atom.

In the series, Palmer will play an unexpected role in the lives of Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak as the new owner of Queen Consolidated, according to Deadline. His deal will span 14 of the season's 23 episodes and, as previously reported, his character will serve as a love interest for Felicity Smoak.

References have been made to Ray and his love interest Jean Loring numerous times on Arrow; back in 2013, Laurel mentioned her friend Ray and his girlfriend Jean. Later, Moira Queen's lawyer was named Jean Loring.

We speculated at the time that Loring could have been the mother of Palmer's girlfriend, and share a name. That would allow the Ray and Jean mentioned previously to be the Ray and Jean fans know with a minimum of explanation as to why Jean was so much older than everyone else.

Palmer hasn't been seen as The Atom in years, although he still invented the technology and has frequently worn the costume, usually without a mask. He surrendered the role following the events of Identity Crisis, when Jean killed the wife of a fellow superhero. He's currently appearing as the resident mad scientist in The New 52: Futures End, where he works for the government organization S.H.A.D.E. That element of his character was introduced at the start of the New 52 when he was a supporting character in Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.