After years of teasing a continuation of the hit TV series, Smallville star Tom Welling has revealed what, exactly, is holding up the animated sequel to the popular series. Smallville debuted in October 2001 on The WB and relaunched the Superman franchise for a new generation. The series ran for 10 seasons, moving from the WB to the rebranded CW, where it concluded its run in May 2011. Despite Smallville‘s ending, the franchise continued with a comic book series titled Smallville: Season Eleven, which ran from 2012 to 2015 and introduced the series’ takes on heroes like Batman and Wonder Woman. In 2021, Welling revealed that he and co-star Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor, had been working on an animated revival.
In the three years since, there have been numerous teases of a possible revival, but there has been no progress or an official announcement from DC. Speaking with Screen Rant, Welling finally offered an update, revealing that Warner Bros. has not given the project an official green light. He said they haven’t heard anything from the studio, likely because the project is not a priority at Warner Bros. He also mentioned that they want to bring on original Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar to work on the series, but they currently have commitments to Netflix’s Wednesday. Welling said:
“We want it to work. The honest answer is we have not been able to get Warner Brothers to give us the thumbs up. We need their permission. We haven’t even gotten a response. It’s the weirdest thing because it is more of a fan-driven idea. It’s not going to be a blockbuster. It’s not going to be a financial windfall for any of us. We all like each other, we all like working together, and if we could do it, it’d be fun. But Warner Bros. — and I’m not hating on them — they just haven’t gotten back to us. It’s not a priority for them, It’s like a not-returning-phone-calls-thing…We want Al and Miles to write it. They’ve expressed interest, but they’re also busy working on Wednesday with Tim Burton. I think because it’s not a big financial gain for anybody, it’s getting less [priority.]”
The idea that Warner Bros. has not greenlit the Smallville revival series is odd, considering that new DC Studio head James Gunn is good friends with Michael Rosenbaum. While Smallville might not fit into Gunn’s interconnected DCU of films and animated series, he has said that Elseworlds titles would still exist, like Matt Reeves’s The Batman – Part II, and animated series including Harley Quinn and Teen Titans Go! An animated Smallville series certainly would fit into that Elseworlds brand. Welling even commented on getting Rosenbaum to show Gunn what they have so far, saying, “We joked about it. Michael says, ‘Oh, James is so busy.’ I think it’d be a fun idea. We already have the animation done. I don’t know if Michael shared it already, but we have a poster for it. It’s [with] the cast and Lionel Luthor looming behind [them.]”
Crisis for Infinite Supermen
An animated Smallville revival series seems like a sure hit. It has been over 13 years since the series concluded and 23 years since the series first debuted, and an entire generation of fans who grew up with the series would likely want to revisit it. Warner Bros. and DC are aware of Smallville‘s cultural impact, and the series in the Arrowverse have made many references to it. In the 2018 crossover between Supergirl, The Flash, and Arrow, titled “Elseworlds,” Oliver Queen and Barry Allen travel to Kara’s Earth-38. When they arrive in her universe’s version of Smallville, they needle-drop “Save Me” by Remy Zero, the main credits theme of Smallville. Tom Welling and Erica Durance, who played Lois Lane in the series, reprised their roles from Smallville in the epic crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths” in 2019.
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The biggest obstacle to an animated Smallville revival might be James Gunn’s Superman. It has already been reported that Warner Bros. wants to keep the focus on one Superman, which is one reason why the CW series Superman & Lois is ending this year, ahead of Gunn’s Superman. While Gunn and Rosenbaum might be good friends, Gunn is likely looking at the bigger scope of his new DCU, and a Smallville animated revival might cause brand confusion. However, following Superman‘s release, and once the brand is hopefully well-established, the Smallville animated revival series could become a possibility.
- Release Date
- October 16, 2001
- Seasons
- 10
- Franchise
- DC