How ‘Freedom Fighters’ Puts a Twist on The Ray’s Comic Origin

Freedom Fighters: The Ray officially debuted on CW Seed this weekend, and it gave fans a new twist on its titular character’s comic origins.

Spoilers for the first three episodes of Freedom Fighters: The Ray below!

The animated series follows Ray Terrill/The Ray (Russell Tovey), and the origins of how he became Earth-X’s crime fighter. Like in the world of DC Comics, Ray is a legacy character, but in a slightly more unconventional way.

In the early episodes of the series, fans are introduced to Ray’s Earth-X doppelganger, who leads the Freedom Fighters in the war against the world’s Nazi villains. After a particularly brutal fight, Earth-X Ray is sent through a breach… to Earth-1 Ray’s backyard.

Earth-1 Ray comes face-to-face with the hero, who he quickly discovers to be his own doppelganger. Suddenly, Earth-X Ray dies, and transfers his powers into Earth-1 Ray’s body.

This differs a little bit from Ray’s DC Comics origin, which sees him having a different connection with the original man to hold the mantle. In the comics, the original The Ray is Lanford “Happy” Terrill, Ray’s birth father. Through a series of bombshells, Ray is told the truth about his light-based powers, and meets Happy in the process.

In the long run, Freedom Fighters‘ change to The Ray’s origin does certainly make sense. After all, it not only gives Earth-1 Ray a reason to join the crusade on Earth-X, but it keeps his father alive — a huge facet in Ray’s coming out story.

Still, it’s a bit of a bummer that there isn’t a superpowered Happy Terrill around on Earth-1, as he would be a pretty fantastic guest star to have on Legends of Tomorrow. But it sounds like Legends could very well have Ray return if the opportunity is just right.

“The Earth-1 Ray, who you met in the crossover, absolutely,” executive producer Marc Guggenheim confirmed to ComicBook.com. “The only two things that we need to see The Ray in live action again are a great story and Russell’s availability. We get those two things and you’ll absolutely see him again. We certainly would hope to.”

The first six episodes of Freedom Fighters: The Ray are now available on CW Seed.