After years of teasing a continuation of the hit TV sequence, Smallville star Tom Welling has revealed what, precisely, is holding up the animated sequel to the favored sequence. Smallville debuted in October 2001 on The WB and relaunched the Superman franchise for a brand new era. The sequence ran for 10 seasons, transferring from the WB to the rebranded CW, the place it concluded its run in Might 2011. Regardless of Smallville‘s ending, the franchise continued with a comic book guide sequence titled Smallville: Season Eleven, which ran from 2012 to 2015 and launched the sequence’ takes on heroes like Batman and Surprise Girl. In 2021, Welling revealed that he and co-star Michael Rosenbaum, who performed Lex Luthor, had been engaged on an animated revival.
Within the three years since, there have been quite a few teases of a attainable revival, however there was no progress or an official announcement from DC. Talking with Display Rant, Welling lastly supplied an replace, revealing that Warner Bros. has not given the venture an official inexperienced gentle. He mentioned they have not heard something from the studio, seemingly as a result of the venture is just not a precedence at Warner Bros. He additionally talked about that they wish to carry on unique Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar to work on the sequence, however they at present have commitments to Netflix’s Wednesday. Welling mentioned:
“We wish it to work. The sincere reply is we’ve got not been capable of get Warner Brothers to present us the thumbs up. We want their permission. We haven’t even gotten a response. It’s the weirdest factor as a result of it’s extra of a fan-driven concept. It’s not going to be a blockbuster. It’s not going to be a monetary windfall for any of us. All of us like one another, all of us like working collectively, and if we may do it, it’d be enjoyable. However Warner Bros. — and I’m not hating on them — they simply haven’t gotten again to us. It’s not a precedence for them, It’s like a not-returning-phone-calls-thing…We wish Al and Miles to put in writing it. They’ve expressed curiosity, however they’re additionally busy engaged on Wednesday with Tim Burton. I believe as a result of it is not an enormous monetary acquire for anyone, it is getting much less [priority.]”
The concept Warner Bros. has not greenlit the Smallville revival sequence is odd, contemplating that new DC Studio head James Gunn is sweet associates with Michael Rosenbaum. Whereas Smallville won’t match into Gunn’s interconnected DCU of movies and animated sequence, he has mentioned that Elseworlds titles would nonetheless exist, like Matt Reeves’s The Batman – Half II, and animated sequence together with Harley Quinn and Teen Titans Go! An animated Smallville sequence definitely would match into that Elseworlds model. Welling even commented on getting Rosenbaum to indicate Gunn what they’ve to this point, saying, “We joked about it. Michael says, ‘Oh, James is so busy.’ I believe it would be a enjoyable concept. We have already got the animation achieved. I do not know if Michael shared it already, however we’ve got a poster for it. It is [with] the solid and Lionel Luthor looming behind [them.]”
Disaster for Infinite Supermen
An animated Smallville revival sequence looks as if a certain hit. It has been over 13 years because the sequence concluded and 23 years because the sequence first debuted, and a whole era of followers who grew up with the sequence would seemingly wish to revisit it. Warner Bros. and DC are conscious of Smallville‘s cultural influence, and the sequence within the Arrowverse have made many references to it. Within the 2018 crossover between Supergirl, The Flash, and Arrow, titled “Elseworlds,” Oliver Queen and Barry Allen journey to Kara’s Earth-38. Once they arrive in her universe’s model of Smallville, they needle-drop “Save Me” by Remy Zero, the principle credit theme of Smallville. Tom Welling and Erica Durance, who performed Lois Lane within the sequence, reprised their roles from Smallville within the epic crossover occasion “Disaster on Infinite Earths” in 2019.
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The most important impediment to an animated Smallville revival could be James Gunn’s Superman. It has already been reported that Warner Bros. needs to maintain the deal with one Superman, which is one cause why the CW sequence Superman & Lois is ending this yr, forward of Gunn’s Superman. Whereas Gunn and Rosenbaum could be good associates, Gunn is probably going trying on the larger scope of his new DCU, and a Smallville animated revival would possibly trigger model confusion. Nevertheless, following Superman‘s launch, and as soon as the model is hopefully well-established, the Smallville animated revival sequence may turn out to be a risk.
- Launch Date
- October 16, 2001
- Seasons
- 10
- Franchise
- DC