During the Arrowverse crossover “Crisis on Earth-X,” fans were introduced to The Ray, an Earth-X hero fighting back against the Nazi’s on that grim, dystopian world. But as CW Seed‘s animated series Freedom Fighters: The Ray reveals, there’s more to the titular hero’s story, and he certainly isn’t alone in his resistance efforts.
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On Freedom Fighters: The Ray, audiences find out more about Ray Terill/The Ray, specifically how he went from fighting for rights in the public sector on Earth-1 to crossing over to Earth-X to take the place of his doppelganger in that dystopian world. It’s a role that sees The Ray leading a resistance team consisting of John Trujillo/Black Condor, Jenny Knight/Phantom Lady, Red Tornado, and Cisco Ramon/Vibe… the Earth-X version.
While audiences have had an introduction to The Ray, they may be less familiar with the rest of his team short of knowing that Earth-X is a horrible place, but like The Ray, many of the Freedom Fighters have a history in DC Comics, which may be quite different from the characters in the animated series.
John Trujillo/Black Condor
Voiced by Jason Mitchell in the series, in comics Black Condor is a heroic identity that has belonged to three different people, though all of them have been members of the Freedom Fighters. John Trujillo is the third hero to bear the mantle, after the Golden Age’s Richard Grey Jr. and then later Ryan Kendall. Unlike his predecessors who got their powers either from exposure to radiation or genetic experiments — or by being raised by a condor if you want to go all the way back to the character’s Quality Comics origins — Trujillo inherited the powers of the Black Condor from Tocotl, a Mayan Spider Goddess.
In comics, Trujillo sees himself as a protector of the universe, and single-handedly rescues Uncle Sam and the rest of the Freedom Fighters who had been defeated by agents of the questionable government agency S.H.A.D.E. by using his powers of high-speed flight, wind control, and superhuman strength and speed.
Jenny Knight/Phantom Lady
Like Black Condor, Phantom Lady is a mantle that’s been used by multiple heroes over the course of the character’s history. The Jennifer Knight version in comics was introduced as part of the DC Continuity reboot “The New 52” and had no connection to the Freedom Fighter team member. While Jenny Knight on Freedom Fighters: The Ray shares a name with the New 52 character, the most recent Phantom Lady in comics to be part of the team is Stormy Knight, a metahuman guarding the city of Bludhaven. Like others she serves with in Bludhaven, Phantom Lady is a cold-blooded killer who also happens to be the daughter of a Senator. She later joins the Freedom Fighters where she reveals that she is very well-educated, with a degree in quantum physics. She wears wristbands that can not only project light, but bend reality. In Freedom Fighters: The Ray, Jenny Knight is voiced by Dilshad Vadsaria.
Cisco Ramon/Vibe
No, Cisco isn’t leaving Team Flash to fight Nazis on Earth-X. The Freedom Fighters team has their own version of Vibe, but unlike Black Condor and Phantom Lady, the character doesn’t really have a history with the comic book Freedom Fighters team. Instead, Vibe was the leader of a Detroit street gang, Los Lobos, who quit to join up with a new incarnation of the Justice League. When the League disbanded during Darkseid’s assault on earth during the Legends miniseries, Vibe went back to the streets, where he was later attacked by Professor Ivo’s androids and killed, becoming the first member of the League killed in the line of duty. His body was laid to rest in a cryogenic chamber.
Voiced by The Flash‘s Carlos Valdes, who plays Cisco on that series as well, Vibe is a recurring character on Freedom Fighters: The Ray and, like his comic book counterpart, is able to use powers of vibration to create shockwaves as well as alter the fabric of space and time to the point of being able to create portals, or breaches — a handy power when fighting Nazis.
The first six episodes of Freedom Fighters: The Ray are now available on CW Seed.
