UPDATE! ARROW's 'Ray Palmer' Headed to THE FLASH

Update: ARROW boss spills more details on the villain in this episode.
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Ahead of tonight's return of ARROW, showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg dropped a huge spoiler to Variety about future plans for Brandon Routh's Ray Palmer: he and Felicity are crossing over to THE FLASH later this season!

Brandon Routh and ARROW bosses divulge some Ray Palmer/Atom info:

Outside Team Arrow and Laurel, Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) has been harboring aspirations of heroism for some time, as evidenced by the ATOM suit he revealed to Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) before the midseason break. According to Routh, The Arrow’s disappearance “lights more of a fire [under him] — I don’t know if it’s possible to that; he’s already pretty jazzed and working towards it — but his solution is to get more involved in city politics and lend a hand to the police in some way. That’s the biggest part apart from being a shoulder to lean on for Felicity, even though she’s not divulging what’s going on.”

“Ray’s the first technology-based hero that we’ve done. Our heroes, on ‘Arrow’ at least, tend to be very sort of fisticuff-oriented,” Guggenheim noted. “Ray is trying something brand new, also brand new for us too. He’s creating what we call the Super Suit, the ATOM suit that is really at the cutting edge of technology, both in the real world and on the show. He’s also going to have to discover that a super suit does not a hero make. Part of the thing that we’re always trying to be true to is putting on a costume is the easy part. It’s being the hero that’s the really difficult part and one does not mean you’ve accomplished the other.

Added Kreisberg, “The other thing that’s really important about Ray is his relationship with Felicity. In a lot of ways, he’s the more evolved version of Oliver. He’s got the square jaw, all-American, superhero good looks but he’s actually a lot more emotionally accessible.”

Rickards and Routh will also bring their own brand of heroism to “The Flash” in episode 18, which is fittingly titled “All-Star Team-Up,” teased Kreisberg: “In episode four of ‘Flash’ when Felicity came by, it wasn’t just a gag to have Felicity come by. It really was integrated into the story. When you reach what’s going on in ‘The Flash’ at that point in the season, Barry is really at a crossroads. Having Felicity come by exactly when he needs her really plays into the whole storyline. It’s fine because as Marc said, Ray Palmer is all about technology and STAR Labs is all about technology. We get to see Ray so happy to be in STAR Labs… With Cisco [Carlos Valdes] and Ray, they’re new best friends. The STAR Labs team is going to help Ray further his ATOM project.”

UPDATE #1! Routh was admittedly excited about the prospect of crossing over, telling Variety, “I’ve thought about that, because I’m a ‘Flash’ fan for sure — it’s a fun show and the energy of that show jives more with Ray’s energy, so I think he’ll definitely be a kid in a candy store over there, checking out all of their cool equipment and everything they have going on.”

Read the full article at Variety.

UPDATE #2! TVLine has more scoop on THE FLASH's 18th episode:

Do you have anything on The Flash?
Bonus scoop: Episode 18 will unleash on Central City a bee-a-utiful tech wizard who rocks oversized shades and red lipstick… and has devised a clever-slash-amoral-slash-wildly unstable scheme to weaponize bee-sized ‘bots. [Iris: Sounds like DC villain Queen Bee.]

UPDATE #3! Entertainment Tonight spoke with ARROW boss Andrew Kreisberg on the crossover episode and confirms the baddie of the week:

“At that point, Ray needs a little help with his [A.T.O.M.] suit, and who better than Felicity’s high-tech guys at STAR Labs?” Kreisberg says. “It happens to come at a particularly bad moment for Barry. That’s partially why we did it. The first episode with Felicity [Episode 4], she really came along at a time when her experience in being part of a crime-fighting team definitely helped Barry overcome what he was facing that week. Similarly, when she comes, he’s having a crisis of conscience that in some ways, only somebody like she can help him through.”

“It’s a really fun episode,” he promises. “I hadn’t gotten to write much Ray this season on Arrow — I got to write him in the Flash: Season Zero comic book, and I loved it. So, getting to write him… he’s just so much fun, and he finds a best friend in Cisco.”

“There’s even a line in the script where Felicity says ‘Ray is like Barry in Oliver’s body’,” he laughs. “And then went ‘Oh, God, did I say that out loud?’ And Ray’s just – even though he looks like Brandon Routh – he’s a big tech geek at heart, so he and Cisco quickly bond. It’s a fun episode.”

The foe faced by Team Flash and Friends will be The Bug-Eyed Bandit, a known foe of The Atom from the comic books.

What are you most excited about for #FLATOM?