Freedom Fighters: The Ray is an American web-based animated series created by Greg Berlanti and Mark Guggenheim. The premiere of the animated series, the plot of which revolves around a member of Freedom Fighters Ray Terry, nicknamed Luch, took place on December 8, 2017 on the streaming service CW Seed . The project is part of the Arrow Universe , but its events take place on Earth-X, which is an alternative to the main Earth of The CW TV shows.
| Freedom Fighters: Ray | |
|---|---|
| Freedom Fighters: The Ray | |
 | |
| Type of | Animation |
| Genre | Adventure Superheroic Action film Science fiction |
| Based on | |
| Producer | Greg Berlanti Mark Guggenheim |
| Roles voiced | Russell Tovey |
| Studio | DC Entertainment Warner bros Animation Blue ribbon content |
| A country |  USA |
| Number of seasons | 2 |
| Number of episodes | 12 |
| Tv channel | Cw seed |
| Broadcast | from December 8, 2017 - us. vr. |
| IMDb | |
Synopsis
Lawyer Raymond "Ray" Terril once meets his double from the parallel Universe. The double dies, but first manages to transfer to Ray superpowers based on the control of light waves [1] .
Actors and Characters
Protagonists
- Raymond Ray Terril / Luch ( Russell Tovey ) is a public defender who, as a result of meeting with his double, gets the opportunity to control light waves. He goes to Earth-X and becomes a member of the Freedom Fighters team [1] [2] .
- Tovey also plays Ray's double, for whom Earth-X is the home world [3] [4] .
- John Trujillo ( Jason Mitchell ) is Ray's colleague and friend who helps him master new abilities [5] .
- On Earth, X lives a double of John, who is a member of the Freedom Fighters team, nicknamed Black Condor. He is also voiced by Jason Mitchell
- Jenny Knight ( Dilshad Vadsaria ) - Terril’s colleague [5]
- On Earth-X, is a superhero as part of the Freedom Fighters and bears the pseudonym Ghost Lady [6] .
Minor
| Invitees
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Episodes
| No. | # | Title | Producer | Screenwriter | Delivery Date in USA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 (2017) | |||||
| 1-6 | 1-6 | "Ascent of the hero" " A Hero Rises " | Ethan Spaulding | Emilio Ortega Aldrich, Lauren Zerto, Mark Guggenheim, Sarah Hernandez, Elizabeth Kim and Sarah Schechter | December 8, 2017 |
| In Nazi-occupied Earth-X, Ray Terill, nicknamed Ray in the Freedom Fighters, is fighting the New Reichsman to protect civilians. However, the enemy is stronger than them. A red tornado and a Puppet man die in battle, and Ray himself is injured. Since the Red Tornado’s memory contains valuable information about the Freedom Fighters, the leader of the New Reichsman, Overgirl, tries to get to the neural processor of the Red Tornado, but he manages to pass it on to Ray. With the help of the Earth-X vibe, Ray flees to Earth-1. There, the doubles of John Trujillo / Black Condor, Jenny Knight / The Phantom Lady and Ray himself work as lawyers, helping ordinary citizens in legal matters. However, the department closes a certain politician and they remain without work. After this, Ray and John go to the bar, where Terill hesitates to invite the guy on a date. As it turned out, Ray lives with conservative parents, who are afraid to admit their homosexuality. Instead, he simply says at dinner with them that he has lost his job. When he went outside to reproach himself with weaknesses, a Ray appears in front of him from the portal, which passes him the neural processor of the Red Tornado and suddenly splits into many rays of light that have entered Ray. First of all, Ray decides to discuss the situation with John, who at first does not believe him, but when the hologram of the Red Tornado appears from the processor, explaining the situation on Earth-X, and a little later Ray shows the abilities of the Ray, he has to believe. Both decide to test their abilities, which leads to the fact that Caitlin and Cisco in the STAR Laboratory record the appearance of a new meta-person. After training Ray and John again go to the bar, where they notice the very guy Ray was afraid to invite. Now, more confident, Ray sets up a meeting with this guy, whose name is Jacob, and they go for a walk. Along the way, they notice a burglar attacking a lesbian couple in a park. After sending Jacob to call for help, Ray turns into a Ray and defeats the robber and leaves him as a police officer who has arrived at the scene. Meanwhile, Earth-X's vibe tries to find the Ray using a computer, but is ambushed by the New Reichsmans, who now know where the neural processor is located. On Earth-1, Ray prepares for a date with Jacob when a poison dart hits him. Losing consciousness, he sees two dark figures that bent over him. | |||||
| Season 2 (2018) | |||||
| 7-12 | 1-6 | Earth X " Earth-X " | Ethan Spaulding | Emilio Ortega Aldrich, Lauren Zerto, Mark Guggenheim, Sarah Hernandez, Elizabeth Kim and Sarah Schechter | July 18, 2018 |
| Ray wakes up and sees Curtis Holt and Cisco Ramon above him, who abducted him and put him to sleep with a dart. A green arrow and Flash appear, which explain to Ray that they carefully monitor all the new heroes that appear anywhere. The heroes offer Ray assistance in learning and acquiring new skills, but then a distress signal comes from Detroit - an escaped military prototype of a giant robot attacked the city, and Marie McCabe, also known as Vixen, needs help. Everyone, including Ray, rush there. Only by common forces they manage to defeat robots. After this Ray goes home, where his mother makes hints that he suspects his homosexuality and does not condemn him. but at that time, Overgirl, who needs a neural processor, attacks the house. In battle, the leader of the New Reichsman is stronger and Ray has to flee, leaving her with a processor. Blaming himself for this, he calls on Cisco to transfer him to Earth-X, which he, after much persuasion, does. There Ray finds the Freedom Fighters base. the image of which he saw when the Red Tornado explained to him the situation in this world, tells local heroes about what happened to their friend and processor. And despite that. that the New Reichsman now knows their whereabouts, he inspires resistance to battle and base defense. The battle begins. While the Freedom Fighters distract Blitzkrieg and the Black Arrow (Flash doubles and the Green Arrow), Ray in the guise of the Ray fights with the Overgirl. this time on an equal footing with her. In the end, the resistance manages to capture Blitzkrieg and the Black Arrow, and the Overgirl was defeated by Ray and fell into the bay. As a result, Ray decides to stay in this world as a Ray and continue to fight for freedom. | |||||
Production
In August 2016, Greg Berlanti and Mark Guggenheim announced that they, together with Blue Ribbon Content, are preparing to release a new animation project [1] [12] . They also revealed that the protagonist will have non-traditional sexual orientation , and the actor who will voice him will also appear in the main series of the Arrow Universe [1] . The idea of the series was inspired by a series of comic books by Grant Morrison called The Multiversity [13] . According to Guggenheim, they decided to introduce the Fighters for Freedom and Earth-X, because "there was a special reason for that." He also noted: “Morrison came up with an idea that we immediately responded to: the Freedom Fighters team consists of those who were primarily persecuted by the Nazis, that is, women, homosexuals, Jews. This is the idea we wanted to implement. At the same time, this is the story of the origin of the Ray ” [9] . Earth-X is part of the multiverse and represents a world in which Nazi Germany triumphed in World War II and the team of the New Reichsmen rules in real America [14] . In September 2017, it became known that the main character will be voiced by the English actor Russell Tovey [2] .
The events of the animated web series Freedom Fighters: The Ray take place before the Crisis on Earth-X . According to Guggenheim, the project showed "confusion in the events ... [and] inconsistencies" [8] , since the crossover started working after the script for the Freedom Fighters was already ready. In addition, the guggenheim and crossover executive producer Andrew Chrysberg “disagreed” about how closely the events of “Crisis on Earth-X” and “Freedom Fighters” should be connected [8] [15] . Although the web series became a prequel to the crossover, Guggenheim argued that the original idea was not that, since the project was to go before the crossover. However, when it was decided to show Ray in the series, it took time to find the right actor for this role, making the choice. in the end fell on Tovi. According to the scriptwriter, in this case, “either move on, get a completely different character’s voice and a different look at the Ray, or take a break, get Russell’s voice, change the design a bit, make the story of the Ray go the way Russell looks at it. There was no way to do this and at the same time release the series before the crossover. It was more important to get Russell’s voice, and not to release the series earlier ” [8] .
Release
The first six episodes of [15] Freedom Fighters: The Ray premiered on December 8, 2017, via the CW Seed streaming service [16] [17] . Six more episodes [18] , which were positioned as the second season, were released on July 18, 2018, but even before that they were shown to visitors of the 2018 International Comedian in San Diego [19] [20] .
DVD and Blu-ray
In June 2018, information appeared that both seasons of the web series would be mounted in a single full-length version and released on DVD and Blu-Ray. The release took place on August 28, 2018 [21] [22] .
Criticism
Oliver Sava, who writes for The AV Club , rated B the first three episodes. According to him, “the plot shows an interesting structure, first showing the terrible situation on Earth-X in two episodes, and then, in the third episode, makes a giant leap through dimensions” the critic noted that this makes Ray feel like a support character in his own show. Seva praised the character’s personal problems, "which are hardly explored in superheroics, especially in films and on television" and a show showing "how you can quickly add tension and depth to a fantastic story." Seva also said the following about Tovey: “Tovey did a great job conveying Ray's concern and his fear of coming out. And you feel his disappointment in himself when he tries and cannot realize his sexuality ” [11] .
After watching the full-length Blu-ray version, Luke I. Thompson from Forbes magazine was also pleased with what he saw. According to him, it was "the most emotional of all DC animated web series, [that he] has ever seen and watched." In addition, he praised the visual part and the quality of the animation [23] .
Ray in television series
Ray Terril appeared in a crossover between the series of the Arrow Universe “ Crisis on Earth-X ”. In addition to him, other members of the Freedom Fighters appear in the crossover [2] [24] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Gay Superhero Show a Go at CW Seed, Arrow-verse Integration Eyed . TVLine . Date of treatment February 3, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Holbrook, Damian Arrowverse Crossover Ignites 'Crisis on Earth-X' . TV Insider (September 22, 2017). Date of treatment September 22, 2017. Archived September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Episode 1
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Episode 3
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wickline, Dan Freedom Fighters: The Ray Season 1 Recap - Things Are Just Getting Started . Bleeding Cool (December 8, 2017). Date of treatment December 8, 2017. Archived December 9, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Cecchini, Mike DC's Freedom Fighters: The Ray is a Dark Reflection of CW Multiverse . Den of Geek (July 21, 2017). Date of treatment July 25, 2017. Archived July 23, 2017.
- ↑ Wickline, Dan CW Releases 92 Images From Arrowverse Crossover: Crisis On Earth-X . Bleeding Cool (November 18, 2017). Date of treatment November 18, 2017. Archived November 18, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Damore, Meagan Freedom Fighters: The Ray: Guggenheim Previews Ray's Earth-X History . Comic Book Resources (December 7, 2017). Date of treatment December 8, 2017. Archived December 8, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Hogan, John CW Seed Offers A Ray of Hope with 'Freedom Fighters: The Ray' . TV Insider (August 30, 2017). Date of treatment September 6, 2017. Archived on September 6, 2017.
- ↑ Caron, Natalie The Flash's Vibe joins Freedom Fighters: The Ray's new CW poster . Syfy Wire (October 17, 2017). Date of treatment November 16, 2017. Archived November 16, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 Sava, Oliver The Ray gives The CW's new gay hero an animated showcase, but not enough spotlight . The AV Club (December 8, 2017). Date of treatment December 8, 2017. Archived December 8, 2017.
- ↑ Cecchini, Mike DC's Freedom Fighters: The Ray Trailer Arrives . Den of Geek (July 25, 2017). Date of treatment July 25, 2017.
- ↑ Dornbusch, Jonathan CW INTRODUCING DC'S THE RAY IN NEW ANIMATED SERIES AND, EVENTUALLY, IN LIVE ACTION . IGN (August 11, 2016). Date of treatment August 11, 2016. Archived August 11, 2016.
- ↑ Adams, Tim The Ray Battles Nazis in First Trailer For Animated Series . Comic Book Resources (July 23, 2017). Date of treatment July 25, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 Mitovich, Matt Webb Arrow Boss Touts The Ray's Timeless Fight, Explains Crossover 'Continuity' . TVLine (December 7, 2017). Date of treatment December 8, 2017. Archived December 8, 2017.
- ↑ Holbrook, Damian First Look: 'Freedom Fighters: The Ray' Promo Art . TV Insider (October 16, 2017). Date of treatment October 16, 2017. Archived October 16, 2017.
- ↑ CW Seed [cwseed]. Freedom Fighters: #TheRay premieres in ONE WEEK on CW Seed! . [tweet] . Twitter (December 1, 2017) . Date of treatment December 1, 2017.
- ↑ Burt, Kayti Russell Tovey on The Ray's Live-Action & Animated Future . Den of Geek! (January 16, 2018). Date of treatment February 19, 2018. Archived February 19, 2018.
- ↑ Anderson, Jenna 'Freedom Fighters: The Ray' Renewed for Season 2 at CW Seed . ComicBook.com (June 25, 2018). Date of treatment July 1, 2018.
- ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray Comic-Con: Warner Bros TV Goes Big With 'Riverdale' Hall H Debut, 'Arrow' Return, 'Black Lightning' + More . Deadline Hollywood (June 25, 2018). Date of treatment June 26, 2018.
- ↑ Wickline, Dan Freedom Fighters: The Ray Hitting Blu-Ray / DVD This August . Bleeding Cool (June 6, 2018). Date of treatment July 1, 2018.
- ↑ ComicMix Staff. Freedom Fighters: The Ray goes from CW Seed to Disc in August . ComicMix (June 7, 2018). Date of treatment July 1, 2018.
- ↑ Blu-ray Review: DC's 'Freedom Fighters: The Ray' Lets A Gay Superhero Punch Nazis . Forbes
- ↑ Agard, Chancellor Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends unite for 'Crisis on Earth X' crossover . Entertainment Weekly (September 22, 2017). Date of treatment September 22, 2017. Archived September 22, 2017.