Arrow Producers Reveal The Latest Super Hero Costume Story by David Clark Former Superman Returns Brandon Routh is currently playing the role of Ray Palmer/ATOM on the CW show Arrow , a brainy scientist/corporate-type named for his superpower providing suit called an Advanced Technology Operating Mechanism - A.T.O.M. Truth be told, the Atom character has gone through multiple variations in the DC Comics universe. The original Atom was an awkward college student turned physicist with limited superpowers at best. Another version of the Atom appeared in the Suicide Squad comics as a minor character. The CW has selected a version of the character known as the Silver Age Atom. In the original lore, Ray Palmer became Atom when he discovered the fragments of a white dwarf star. He utilized those materials to fashion a technology which allowed the shrinking of his own body down to the subatomic level. Over time the character became less dependent upon technology and