‘Smallville’s Revival Should Be an Animated Series 1m5a2i

The Big Picture o4q5z

• Smallville
  characters have hinted at a reunion, providing fans with new possibilities.
• Animation would allow for natural progression of the story without controversy and open doors for bigger storylines.
• The
  Smallville
  comic continuation shows series success outside live-action, offering room to expand.

When it comes to live-action interpretations of the Man of Steel, Smallville was always on a different level. For starters, Tom Welling didn’t play Superman himself (at least not until the end), but rather a younger Clark Kent as he discovered his origins, his powers, and ultimately his destiny. The impressive 10-season series consisted of 218 episodes and was responsible for bringing many DC Comics heroes to life on screen for the very first time, such as Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), Aquaman (Alan Ritchson), and Cyborg (Lee Thompson Young). But after over a decade off the air, buzz about a potential Smallville reunion can’t help but get fans excited about more, only this time, the story should really be told in animation. Here’s why.

A ‘Smallville’ Reunion Has Been Teased for a While 2pe4s

In 2018, Michael Rosenbaum (who played Lex Luthor on the television series) launched his Inside of You podcast with his former co-star and close friend Tom Welling as his first guest. Years later, the pair continue to podcast together as they rewatch episodes of Smallville for their TalkVille podcast, analyzing the series from their distinct « boots on the ground » point of view. Between these two podcasts, Rosenbaum and Welling have hinted at the possibility of a return to Smallville, and they even announced their plans to continue the show in an animated format down the line. Some have even speculated that we might get a continuation movie, not unlike shows such as Teen Wolf and Veronica Mars.

But what really kicked off fan anticipation for more Smallville was the Arrowverse. Within the Supergirl universe, the Kent farm is the same location as the one used for Smallville, meaning that Tyler Hoechlin‘s Arrowverse Clark Kent (not to be confused with his Superman & Lois counterpart, who lives in an entirely different universe) and Welling’s version of the character likely had similar childhoods. At the very least, they lived in the same space and both likely listened to Remy Zero as teenagers. To go a step further, when the Arrowverse launched their « Crisis on Infinite Earths » event crossover, Tom Welling and Erica Durance returned to the screen (and the farm) as their respective versions of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, revealed to be raising daughters of their own.

Their appearance in « Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two, » written by former Smallville scribes Don Whitehead and Holly Henderson, only whet our appetite, teasing us with Clark and Lois’s life together in rural Kansas. Although the series finale ended with Clark and Lois in Metropolis (and due to wed by 2018), this coda to the series’ initial run appears to take place even well after that, at a time when Clark has given up his powers to live a normal life. Cue the Alan Moore classic, What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? But what’s next for Smallville‘s Clark Kent? Is this just a temporary power loss like what happened to Christopher Reeve in Superman II? Will their daughters also have powers like the Kent boys we see in Superman & Lois? Are more Phantom Zone threats out there waiting to return? A revival feels inevitable.

Animation Would Allow ‘Smallville’ to Progress Naturally (and Without Any Controversy) 145c6g

Tom Welling returning to the cape (or red jacket) feels right after where the show left off, and Michael Rosenbaum deserves to reprise his role as Lex Luthor at least once more down the line. But not unlike how the Star Wars prequels continued with the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Smallville would do well with the transition between live-action and animation. In fact, it might be better for the story in the long run.

For starters, it’s unlikely that Tom Welling would ever officially don a Superman uniform in live-action. He refused to wear the outfit when Smallville was on (ever beholden to the show’s initial « no tights, no flights » rule), and he would’ve denied the « Crisis on Infinite Earths » return also had he been forced to wear a cape — unlike Brandon Routh who couldn’t wait to return as Superman after so many years. But by bringing the series back in animation, Welling wouldn’t have to actually wear the Superman uniform to play Superman. Whether Clark would be the Man of Steel in the present story or not doesn’t matter so much (though we hope he would), but it would be unlikely that the series wouldn’t feature some sort of flashback to his time as the Man of Tomorrow, which means we’d need to see Superman at some point.

But that’s not the only reason an animated return would be more ideal. With all the scandal surrounding Allison Mack, it would be hard to include Chloe Sullivan in a live-action revival, which is unacceptable for longtime fans. The character was a major pillar of Smallville‘s 10-year run, and Mack was the only other main cast member besides Welling to appear as a regular in every season. A breakout character, Chloe herself was later introduced into the DC Comics, referenced in Man of Steel, and was even mentioned in ing in episodes of Supergirl. Any Smallville revival would need Chloe to continue, but with animation, it would be easy to recast the character without any real controversy at all, especially if someone like Kristen Bell — whose work on Veronica Mars proves she could master the role — were cast in the part.

Bigger Stories Can Be Told in an Animated ‘Smallville’ Universe 4ns2l

While on air, Smallville was always limited by its CW-sized budget. Despite that, the show always did its best to bring Clark’s superheroics to life in ways that were often better than other network shows like Heroes. Though it isn’t as impressive as some of the superhero content we have nowadays, in the early 2000s, Smallville looked pretty great. Clark’s heat vision effect would later be adapted to the big screen for Superman Returns, and his bullet-time super-speed made everything a bit more dramatic. Clark’s Season 9 battle with Callum Blue‘s General Zod was a major series highlight, even if his physical altercations with Doomsday and Darkseid left a lot to be desired. Thankfully, that wouldn’t be an issue in animation.

If animated, Smallville would be able to tell incredible, comic book-inspired tales the same way that shows like Justice League Unlimited, Young Justice, and the DC Animated Universe series of films were able to. Intergalactic stories, super-powered battles, and heroic reunions that wouldn’t require the return of an original actor would free Smallville from the limitations it had airing on television. While animation itself still has its limits, for a television show based on a comic book character, this might be the best way to continue the narrative in a world as big and developed as Smallville. How cool would it be to see Welling’s Superman « cut loose » with one of his enemies in the same way we saw the Man of Steel do with Darkseid in that epic JLU finale? That’s what an animated Smallville revival has to offer.

But more than that, animation opens the doors of imagination to longtime viewers. Our suspension of disbelief can thrive in this medium while we’re already looking at something that looks impossible just based on its sheer aesthetic. While a live-action Smallville reunion might hold to some physical, real-world constraints (even for a superhero show), an animated continuation wouldn’t in the same way — not unlike how, when reading a comic book, we believe Batman can do multiple backflips in the middle of a firefight. The fantastical elements of Smallville would thrive in an animated setting, and maybe that’s for the best after all these years of superhero content that has raised the bar of expectation.

The ‘Smallville’ Comic Book Continuation Proved the Series Can Thrive Outside Live-Action 41v5

Of course, Smallville has returned before, and not just in the Arrowverse. Long before Tom Welling and Erica Durance reprised their roles, DC Comics published the Smallville Season 11 comic book series, penned by former Smallville writer Bryan Q. Miller. The comic kicked off the story about six months after the series ended (in comic time, anyway), with Clark fully committed to his role as Superman. Not only did the comic series feel like Smallville, but it took what the television series built and continued to expand it. We got returns from fan-favorite characters like Impulse, the Legion of Superheroes, and Martian Manhunter, while also being introduced to Smallville versions of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern. While it wasn’t always perfect, it reminded us that Smallville still had room to grow.

But just like the series itself, the comic books thrived most in its core cast of characters, which included comic versions of Welling’s Clark, Rosenbaum’s Lex, Durance’s Lois, Allison Mack’s Chloe, and Justin Hartley’s Oliver Queen. Along for the ride also was the return of Tess Mercer (played by Cassidy Freeman on the show), who somehow ended up returning to life via her consciousness being placed in a robotic body. While an animated continuation shouldn’t strictly adapt the comic book series, Season 11 could serve as a basis or a jumping-off point for an animated revival. Using both the series and the comics as backstory for our characters, the Smallville revival has a rich history to pull from, even if it decided to ignore the comic books altogether — not unlike what The X-Files did with its revival.

‘Smallville’ Could Be Part of DC’s Elseworlds 21183m

Whether Smallville returns in animation or live-action isn’t what’s important. What is important is that we return to these characters at some point down the line. The Arrowverse’s Smallville epilogue only got us excited about the possibility of more, and with Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum still so invested in the original series, it would be a shame if we didn’t get to see where these characters ended up after all these years. Smallville was never a direct adaptation of the DC Comics source material; it always tried to find clever and interesting ways to adapt the comic books onto the screen, all while creating a new Superman-centric mythology for the character. It wasn’t flawless (« Thirst » still exists), but Smallville always got points for originality, and in an age so over-saturated by comic books and superheroes, that stands out.

Even as the DC Universe franchise takes over from the DC Extended Universe, reaching into all areas of content (including animation), it doesn’t make a Smallville return impossible, even with James Gunn‘s Superman coming in 2025. With the Elseworlds brand in full swing, featuring projects like The Batman Part II and Joker: Folie à Deux, a Smallville continuation could be greenlit also. This wouldn’t be the first time that a live-action DC series has continued in animation (Adam West‘s 1960s Batman series found new life in two animated features in the 2010s), but it would be an exciting return for this iteration of the Man of Steel.

Smallville is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

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