“Crisis on Infinite Earths” is in full swing on The CW and as the red skies and anti-matter wave continue to wipe out every universe it encounters on its relentless march across the Multiverse, the Arrowverse’s heroes are having to reach out to the heroes of other worlds in their efforts to save what’s left. Among those heroes is Ryan Choi, played by Supernatural alum Osric Chau, who may just have significant role to play in the fight against the Anti-Monitor.
But who is Ryan Choi? It’s a name The Flash fans have heard before as the character was mentioned as a scientist in the future who engineered Barry Allen’s Flash ring and costume. In comics, Ryan was created by Gail Simone and Grant Morrison and first appeared in DCU: Brave New World #1. He’s the longtime protege of Ray Palmer and, after Palmer disappears, Ryan moves from Hong Kong to Ivy Town and takes over Ray’s place teaching at Ivy University. Once there, Ryan follows Ray’s clues and discovers a “bio-belt” and becomes the new Atom.
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Heading into tonight’s hour of “Crisis” we don’t really know too much about the Arrowverse’s Ryan Choi, though he is described as a “physics professor at Ivy Tow University”, whose seemingly-normal life is changed when he “learns he has a pivotal role to play” in the Crisis. For Chau, getting to play the character is very exciting.
“I don’t usually read comics. The Ryan Choi comics were actually the first I read as a kid and I only read it because my roommate – this was like seven, eight years ago – my roommate, we went through a list of all these superheroes I could play,” Chau said in a recent interview. “If you could play a superhero it would probably be Ryan Choi. Then I got all of Ryan Choi comics and I was like, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’”
“And this was like way back when superheroes were just starting to become prominent, and as this Asian actor I was like I got to do something towards that,” he continued. “We actually put a pitch packet together for Ryan Choi because I did a lot of research and I love the story. I even connected with Gail Simone who is the writer of it. So, when I came to the audition – they’re were fake sides, but I knew right away I’m like, ‘This is Ryan.’ Like I told the writers in the room like ‘This is Ryan, right?’ I think I definitely caught them off guard.”
“Crisis on Infinite Earths” kicks off on Sunday, December 8 on Supergirl, runs through a Monday episode of Batwoman and that Tuesday’s episode of The Flash. That will be the midseason cliffhanger, as the shows go on hiatus for the holidays and return on January 14 to finish out the event with the midseason premiere of Arrow and a “special episode” of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, which launches as a midseason series this year and so will not have an episode on the air before the Crisis.
