It’s been 10 years since Smallville was last on our screens, but the affection DC fans have for the long-running Superman prequel series is showing no signs of decreasing. And with Tom Welling returning for “Crisis on Infinite Earths” and Superman & Lois now airing, there’s been increasing talk over the last couple of years of The CW maybe working on some sort of reboot or revival. Nothing is official happening as of yet, but the show’s two leading men might have something cooking.
In a recent Instagram Live video, Lex Luthor himself, Michael Rosenbaum, revealed that he and Clark Kent star Tom Welling are working on getting an animated continuation of Smallville off the ground. The two actors have spoken about their idea for such a show at conventions over the years, with Kristin Kreuk – who played Lana Lang – also saying she’d be down for it.
One fan asked Rosenbaum if there’s any chance it could become a reality, and this is how he responded:
“Well, Tom Welling and I had the idea of Smallville returning as an animated series, so we’ll see if it ever happens but, uh, we’ll try and get that going.”
https://twitter.com/BatKilmer/status/1388522318209683462
As the tweet above reminds us, high-profile superhero animated series are all the rage nowadays. Amazon Prime has just concluded the first season of Invincible and DC Universe/HBO Max found success with Harley Quinn. A Smallville animation would be a smart move, then, to capitalize on this trend. It could feasibly land on The CW, but maybe making it another HBO Max exclusive is the better way to go.
Seeing as Smallville season 10 ended with Clark finally becoming Superman, there’s so much more for a continuation – animated or otherwise – to explore. Going by Rosenbaum’s comments, it doesn’t sound like this is necessarily something that’s in serious consideration at this point, but with any luck, he and Welling might be able to drum up some interest in the concept over at Warner Bros.