A couple of days ago we reported that US network The CW is planning an animated superhero show featuring a gay lead, with Freedom Fighters: The Ray, which will air on their online Seed platform. Now it’s been revealed that this isn’t going to be the only LGBT expansion of the DC Arrow-verse.

During a Television Critics Association panel, Greg Berlanti, producer of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, announced that a gay character is coming to at least one of those shows. “It is a significant character,” Berlanti said. “We’re not trying to be coy about it…we just really want the audience to enjoy the character development and not be ahead of the storyline.”

Rather than someone new, exec producer Andrew Kreisberg suggested that it’ll be a pre-existing character, who “Will be exploring their sexuality and coming out.”

However, they wouldn’t be drawn on which show, or which character it will be. We will have to wait and see, although there have been plenty of suggestions already.

It’s believed that openly gay Berlanti has been keen to increase LGBT representation on the shows for some time, and he’s now moving forward with that. It’ll certainly be interesting to discover which character will be coming out, and also whether it’s one of the heroes or a side character.

There have been increasing calls for more LGBT characters in the world of on-screen superheroes. Some shows such as Arrow have had LGBT side characters, but in the movies it’s been almost exclusively straight. However, now CW Seed is making a move towards more inclusivity, as the online content arm of the CW network is planning the first superhero show with a gay lead.

And as with Seed’s popular Vixen, it’ll be based on a DC Comics property. The series will be Freedom Fighters: The Ray, following the classic character who has the power to harness and control light, which allow him to fly and create powerful bursts of light. The series will be based on the Ray Terrill version of the character, who is capable of converting his body completely into light energy.

According to the press release, ‘Terrill was 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 realised 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.’

The hope is that alongside the animated series, the character can be spun into live-action appearances in the Arrowverse, with CW President Mark Pedowitz commenting, “Without question, that is the way we’re intending to build these things out. That is the intention to build out these animated shows into the Arrowverse and introduce them on any one of the four shows. Marc Guggenheim did a good job last year doing that with Megalyn [Echikunwoke, who voiced Vixen on the animated show and went on to play her on Arrow].”