Smallville Finale

[Silver Nemesis]

I'd prefer Matt Reeves' Batman movies to remain disconnected from any other CMBs. If we're going to see Batman interact with other heroes on the big screen, then we have Affleck and Keaton for that purpose. For now at least, Battinson should inhabit his own world. The only other heroes I'd want to see in that world would be Robin, and maybe Batgirl and Azrael. They could always have Battinson cross into another universe and meet Superman further down the line, but it's not something I'm keen to see in the immediate future.

If it was going to happen, then Welling would not be my first pick anyway. As colors says, he had the opportunity to suit up and sport the red cape and he refused to do it. If Superman does exist in the Reeves universe, then let's give someone else a chance to play him.

hYears and years ago, series co-creator Miles Millar described in an interview what a Smallville feature film would probably be IF one was ever made. He basically described an action-fest centered around the President Lex storyline from 2001. Not a literal adaptation of it. But something that owes heavily back to that story. He said it would probably never happen. But if it did, something like President Lex would be his move.

A better plot might be one where Clark's friends infiltrate various criminal organisations and Superman has to rescue them. Pete Ross could join a gang of drug dealers, while Chloe could go undercover with an evil sex cult. It might sound a bit farfetched, but stranger things have happened.

[thecolorsblend]

https://movieweb.com/amp/smallville-animated-series-tom-welling-superman

The gist of this thing is that Welling and Rosenbaum are involved with developing some type of Smallville animated series. Basically, the Smallville version of Superman being Superman.

I'll be honest and say that I haven't paid tons of attention to this. First, because it's been a busy past few months. Second, because I guess I didn't realize that they weren't just spitballing ideas in public for fan entertainment. Rather, apparently this thing is very real and some kind of development deal has been made.

As it's an animated series, that somewhat simplifies things in terms of getting the band back together. Maybe a former cast member can't commit to filming a live action show week after week. But squeezing in voiceover time for a few hours per week over Zoom or something? Yeah, that's pretty realistic.

I assume Chloe will either be written out of the series or recast. But otherwise, I would imagine that the majority of the season 10 cast can probably find a way to make themselves available for this thing.

Ages ago, I came up with what I thought would've been a sort of fun series finale. Basically, I thought it might be good for the show to wrap up the "Clark becomes Superman" story in the next to last episode of the series.

But then, as sort of a thank you to the fans who stuck with the show all those years, the series finale could've been a done-in-one Superman story picking up two or three years after the last episode and been just a fun little excursion into the Smallvilleverse. Obviously, that didn't happen. But it's still fun to think about.

Anyway.

[thecolorsblend]

So, Welling was on Rosenbaum's podcast (again) and the subject of the Smallville animated thing came up again. One new kernel of information (new to me anyway) is that Gough + Millar are going to have some type of involvement with it.

Ain't no such thing as a sure thing. But let's be realistic. The streaming wars are very real. HBO Max needs content, content and more content. Personally, it seems hard to imagine that WME or whatever tf they're called these days will decline an animated revival of an enduringly popular TV show with a built-in (and still very dedicated) audience that includes at least four principal members of the original production.

Even in the crazy weird entertainment business, you sometimes get an easy layup. An animated Smallville show featuring Welling, Rosenbaum, Gough and Millar has GOT to be pretty much a no-brainer.

And honestly, a lot of the Season 11 comic book doesn't work particularly well for me. Some does, but some doesn't. This animated show could pave right over that and I wouldn't be too upset.

[thecolorsblend]

Obviously, Welling and Rosenbaum are all in for the animated Smallville thing. It's since come out that Gough and Millar will somehow be involved too. What's new is that Erica Durance has gone on the record recently too confirming that she's in if this animated project gets traction.

We're now up to five core principals from the og show.

I reiterate that this project MUST be attractive to WBD. There's a built-in audience, an animated project is obviously COVID restriction-friendly and five major creative figures from the original series are interested in coming back.

As a side note, I've got superhero fatigue in a big way. As I've said. Repeatedly. Whether anybody wanted to hear it or not. And yet, Smallville still holds up for me precisely BECAUSE it never jumped into the costumed superhero stuff with both feet. And oddly enough, that makes it attractive to me these days. You can watch Clark operate in Smallville as anonymous do-gooder and skip the tights and stuff entirely.

Something else is that season 10 has emerged as a dark horse contender for the best season of the show from the latter half of its run. I adore the sainted season 07 even now. It just looks like a million bucks. But season 10 has a powerful creative direction that gets amplified with every single episode so that by the time you finally get to the series finale, the stakes and the tension have been cranked up so high that literally the only thing left to do is for Superman to save the day.

On a more selfish note, the good thing about this animated project is that it has the potential to wipe the season 11 comic book and Welling's Arrowverse appearance off the books. Season 11 is, ultimately, a kind of meh storyline. And I think I'm already on the record for, ah, not exactly enjoying Welling's Arrowverse cameo appearance. So, those two things getting nuked can only be good in my book.

[thecolorsblend]

https://screenrant.com/dc-comics-tv-shows-cancelled-almost-happened-plans-why

This is a big roundup of DC-related shows that, for whatever reason, never happened. And honestly, I never heard about most of them.

Now, some of them can be quickly dismissed. Does ANYBODY actually want a show about a pre-Robin Grayson family?

But the Smallville-related shows sound pretty interesting.

The Supergirl show starring Laura Vandervoort has a lot of potential. It could've been a cool little counterpoint to Smallville. Rather than Clark trying to make peace with the fact that he's an alien, it would've been about Kara making peace with the fact that her home world is gone and she has to create a life for herself on Earth. I would've been interested in this show.

Same with the Smallville Justice League show. You could've greatly expanded the canvas with the supervillains. Plus, it would've kept the Smallville JL characters fresh in viewers mind instead of being relegated to one-off guest appearances in each season of Smallville. I would've wanted to watch this.

Everyone knew the gossip about a Green Arrow spinoff show. I was always surprised that it never happened, honestly. Green Arrow was a popular character on Smallville and fans would've wanted to see him headline a show with Lois.

Anyway, this might only be interesting to me. But here it is anyway.

[thecolorsblend]

Talkville:

Basically, Welling and Rosenbaum are starting a podcast. I imagine it'll be fairly comparable to The Office Ladies, where they talk about anecdotes and so forth related to the show.

The timing seems interesting. It's Welling and Rosenbaum keeping the Smallville fanbase engaged. And while they're at it, this could be an ideal vehicle to provide updates about the animated Smallville project they're developing. The mere fact that this podcast exists tells me we need to stay tuned for announcements and updates about the animated thing.

All in all, this sounds pretty interesting.

[thecolorsblend]

In the Lois & Clark thread, I floated my conspiracy theory that the L&C version of Perry knew good and well that Clark was Superman. Now, Perry had probably a million different reasons for keeping that information under his hat. Not least of which would've been his own safety. Because he would've instinctively known that particular knowledge is dangerous. But the point is, he kept it to himself. I believe this is a defensible interpretation of many L&C episodes.

So, on a related note, I'd like to suggest that Smallville Sam Lane knows that Clark is The Blur. There were circumstances back in the dreaded fourth season that would've raised Sam's suspicions that something is very different about Clark. But I think 'Ambush' from the tenth season is when Sam put the pieces together once and for all.

But this scene specifically...

...does a lot to suggest that Sam knows the secret.

As with Perry, Sam has reasons for keeping his mouth shut. First, at the exact time of Ambush, the United States government was beginning to pass anti-vigilante legislation. If it came out that Sam was protecting one of them, that could cost him everything. Second, as he says himself, he likes the idea of Lois having a superpowered bodyguard. It's no stretch to see how Sam would find that appealing.

But third, in a moment of simple, relatable human emotion, Sam loves his daughter and he knows that unmasking Clark would hurt her. And for all his faults, the last thing he wants is to hurt Lois.

So, he's keeping this crucial piece of intel to himself.

Honestly, the issue is touched upon so closely in this scene that it's almost hard to argue that ANYTHING is being "implied" here. Sam doesn't outright say he knows. But some of his dialogue doesn't make much sense if he DOESN'T know.

Still, it's never been officially confirmed either way. But I choose to think that Sam knows the truth and is deliberately holding out on his superiors because he knows that Clark, at least, does far more good than harm and his superiors wouldn't waste a moment in trying to apprehend Clark if Sam revealed the truth to them.

[thecolorsblend]

I've been rewatching the show in tandem with Welling and The Baum's Talk Ville.

Something that's been driven home for me is how well the show has aged. The grounded tone and the limits to which the show ever fully embraced the costume/superhero stuff holds up amazingly well. The TV budget forces an emphasis on character that SOME movie studios would never aspire to.

All in all, I recommend rewatching Smallville if you're sort of fed up with modern comic book adaptations.