# What's the Deal with The Atom on Arrow and Flash? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434 "2015-11-24T16:00:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/1 "2015-11-24T16:00:38Z")
DC’s TV shows have introduced the character of Ray Palmer as the Atom, but as far as I can tell, there’s no connection to the comic book character apart from the name. The comic book Atom devised a belt that allows him to shrink himself, even down to subatomic proportions, if you go back to the Silver Age books. This new TV Atom has a metal suit, flies and shoots power beams. It’s as if they said, “We can’t do the traditional Atom because he’s too close to Marvel’s Ant-Man.” So they made him into a clone of Iron Man instead. What’s up with that, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/2 "2015-11-24T16:16:54Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#): > > DC’s TV shows have introduced the character of Ray Palmer as the Atom, but as far as I can tell, there’s no connection to the comic book character apart from the name. The comic book Atom devised a belt that allows him to shrink himself, even down to subatomic proportions, if you go back to the Silver Age books. This new TV Atom has a metal suit, flies and shoots power beams. It’s as if they said, “We can’t do the traditional Atom because he’s too close to Marvel’s Ant-Man.” So they made him into a clone of Iron Man instead. What’s up with that, anyway? He shrinks too. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/3 "2015-11-24T16:24:00Z")
He’s the traditional Atom in _Legends of Tomorrow,_ which starts in January. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/4 "2015-11-24T16:27:23Z")
I read somewhere that he was supposed to be Ted Kord/Blue Beetle but DC pulled the rights to Blue Beetle at the last minute and they had to scramble for someone/something else. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/5 "2015-11-24T16:28:09Z")
I thought I’d read once that they did that because they really had wanted it to be Ted Kord, and not Ray Palmer, but that they couldn’t get the rights to the Blue Beetle at the time. EDIT - Ninja’d! ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/6 "2015-11-24T16:49:31Z")
I thought it was interesting that they broke into Kord Industries to get the tech needed to embiggen Ray. ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/7 "2015-11-24T16:50:55Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > He shrinks too. I’ll confess that I’ve not yet seen the new season of \*Arrow \*and _Flash_. I don’t see any shrinking in the newly released trailer for _Legends of Tomorrow_, which will also feature the Atom. But even if they have now included shrinking as one of his powers, it seems to me that the whole character was mis-conceived. Shrinking is the essence of the Atom’s power - it’s what he does, not an add-on ability. If they were going to offer a character in a battle suit, they really should have called him something else. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/8 "2015-11-24T19:19:35Z")
“The new and improve Atom.” I thought it was neat how they made the character tall. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/9 "2015-11-24T21:16:52Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > “The new and improve Atom.” The Isotope. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/10 "2015-11-25T03:55:45Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#): > > I’ll confess that I’ve not yet seen the new season of \*Arrow \*and _Flash_. I don’t see any shrinking in the newly released trailer for _Legends of Tomorrow_, which will also feature the Atom. But even if they have now included shrinking as one of his powers, it seems to me that the whole character was mis-conceived. Shrinking is the essence of the Atom’s power - it’s what he does, not an add-on ability. If they were going to offer a character in a battle suit, they really should have called him something else. Are you talking about the trailer that included this little sequence? [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7LlmaFg0lw&t=46s) In it, the Green Arrow urges Ray to “start growing”. Then we see Atom flying over an integrated circuit board before bursting out at full size to take out some bad guys. The first trailer (at least the first one I saw), showed ATOM actually shrinking: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/26B53jxIixE/maxresdefault.jpg "DC Comics Legends of Tomorrow | official First Look trailer (2016) Wentworth Miller Dominic Purcell") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26B53jxIixE&t=3m30s) ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/11 "2015-11-25T17:03:07Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Are you talking about the trailer that included this little sequence? > [https://youtu.be/c7LlmaFg0lw?t=46s](https://youtu.be/c7LlmaFg0lw?t=46s) > > In it, the Green Arrow urges Ray to “start growing”. Then we see Atom flying over an integrated circuit board before bursting out at full size to take out some bad guys. > > The first trailer (at least the first one I saw), showed ATOM actually shrinking: > [https://youtu.be/26B53jxIixE?t=3m30s](https://youtu.be/26B53jxIixE?t=3m30s) Hmmm, good catch. I had seen the first trailer you linked, but Arrow saying “it’s time to start growing” had slipped by me. The second link doesn’t work for me; it says it hasn’t been approved for viewing in my country (which is the USA). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/12 "2015-11-25T17:13:24Z")
He’ll be a positive presence on the series. Once he loses an electron. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/13 "2015-11-25T18:21:13Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > He’ll be a positive presence on the series. > > Once he loses an electron. As long as he doesn’t split. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/14 "2015-11-25T18:42:04Z")
What matters is, he’s in his element. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/15 "2015-11-25T18:51:09Z")
Dem ol’ critics are always tryin’ to grind him down… ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/16 "2015-11-26T18:13:32Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#): > > Hmmm, good catch. I had seen the first trailer you linked, but Arrow saying “it’s time to start growing” had slipped by me. The second link doesn’t work for me; it says it hasn’t been approved for viewing in my country (which is the USA). That first released trailer from Comic Con seems to have mostly disappeared off the net for some reason. I can’t even find it on the CW Youtube channel. Try this one: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aS0Vntw-vaw/maxresdefault.jpg "Legends of Tomorrow Trailer - The Flash and Arrow Spinoff") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS0Vntw-vaw&t=3m24s) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/17 "2015-11-26T20:08:04Z")
So we’re getting both Hawkgirl _and_ Hawkman? Poor Cisco. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/18 "2015-11-26T20:38:01Z")
Yeah, she’s outta his league. I think it’s interesting that Legends has three heroes who “died” on Arrow and The Flash. Which actually doesn’t look good for Hawkgirl… ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/19 "2015-11-27T02:05:23Z")
He hasn’t started shrinking on purpose yet on Arrow, just one time as an accident which lead everyone to believe he was dead. Like a typical comic character he of course didn’t stay dead, and instead got captured by this year’s supervillain, and team arrow had to rescue and resize him. ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-atom-on-arrow-and-flash/738434/20 "2015-11-27T21:13:35Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > That first released trailer from Comic Con seems to have mostly disappeared off the net for some reason. I can’t even find it on the CW Youtube channel. Try this one: > > [https://youtu.be/aS0Vntw-vaw?t=3m24s](https://youtu.be/aS0Vntw-vaw?t=3m24s) Perfect! Now that’s more of what I expect to see from The Atom!