Plot Details for the Next Arrowverse Crossover Announced; The Ray Has Been Cast

Last year, The CW brought together all four of its DC Comics shows – Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow – in a three-part crossover event. This year’s crossover event is planning to go bigger, with a wedding at the heart of the story and a new hero making his live action debut.

The CW has announced that this year’s Arrowverse crossover is called “Crisis on Earth X.” The story sees our heroes back together, this time to celebrate the wedding of Barry Allen and Iris West. However, villains from Earth-X crash the wedding with a “deadly agenda.”

The CW has also released the following key art, which was drawn by legendary artist Phil Jimenez. The artwork features a list of heroes appearing – even Captain Cold?! – as they face their enemies.

Executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg weigh in on this year’s crossover, as well as Jimenez’s art. “We conceived this year’s crossover to be evocative of the annual Justice League/Justice Society crossovers we grew up with and looked forward to as kids. Phil was the perfect choice to bring the comic book cover iteration of this idea to life. You can count on one hand the number of artists who could compellingly represent so many characters in a single image. Phil is one of them. And his design invokes the cover of Justice League #207, which was the 20th Annual JLA/JSA crossover.” For Jimenez’s comments on making this artwork, click HERE.

The crossover will also see the live action debut of Raymond Terrill/The Ray, who headlines the animated series Freedom Fighters later this fall. (That show also takes place on Earth-X.) Quantico actor Russell Tovey has been cast as the character, who is the first gay superhero to lead a TV show, in both mediums (via TV Line). Terrill is described as “…a reporter who discovered a group of government scientists working on a secret project to turn light into a weapon of mass destruction. But before he could report on his findings, the project head exposed Ray to a ‘genetic light bomb.’ The bomb failed to kill him and instead gifted Ray with light-based powers. With these abilities, Ray realized he could go beyond reporting on injustice – he could take action to help stop it. Calling himself The Ray, he was recruited by Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters to fight violence and oppression wherever it exists.”