“The Arrow” is beefing up its line-up ahead of the expected return date  for its third season on CW this October. The latest casting announcement for the DC adapted series welcomes Brandon Routh to the “The Arrow” family as he takes on the role as Ray Palmer a.k.a The Atom. Routh is not a newcomer to the DC franchise, he is better known as Clark Kent a.k.a Superman in Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns”. This time round he will take on the role as a scientist and inventor who will play an unexpected role in the lives of Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak as the new owner of Queen Consolidated.

Brandon Routh

Brandon Routh

For those of you not in the know, here is a description for Ray Palmer a.k.a The Atom, Courtesy of comicvine.com:

As a golden age hero, the Atom’s origin has been told and retold numerous times, however there are always some unifying events. An atomic scientist and genius Ray Palmer was working on a method of reducing objects in size using white dwarf star matter. While he was on a wilderness expedition he became trapped in an underground cave after a collapse in the tunnel. With the threat of death imminent, he improvised an escape. Using a piece of white dwarf star matter he fashioned it into a lens (in some versions the lens is from a set of glasses of the diamond from an engagement ring) which he deduced if focused in the correct way would allow him to shrink to a small size upon entering into the beam of the lens and escape from one of the cave’s small openings and seek help. He was successful and upon rescuing himself (in some cases of the origin there are people with him) he returns to civilization where he decides to embark on a superhero career, incorporating the size reduction ability into a belt which he wears.

His early adventures occurred in Ivy Town alongside his long time girlfriend Jean Loring. Ray was also one of the first heroes to join the ranks of the Justice League of America as it expanded its roster from the original seven members.

Palmer is set to appear in 14 episodes as the super hero while keeping Emily Bett Rickards’ Felicity Smoak warm at night as her new love interest. The casting news is short on the heels of the announcement that model/actress Devon Aoki will take on the role as Tatsu Yamashiro a.k.a. Katana.

Source: tvline.com