A new animated series “Freedom Fighters: The Ray", based on the characters from DC and produced by Warner Bros.' digital studio Blue Ribbon Content, will introduce the first gay superhero to lead a series. It will be out in 2017.

It will debut on CW Seed, the digital channel for the CW Network. The announcement was made at Thursday's Television Critics Association panel for the CW, reports variety.com.

The character, Raymond “Ray” 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.

“Freedom Fighters: The Ray” is from Berlanti Productions in association with Blue Ribbon Content.