Summary
- Smallville’s Clark Kent/Superman, played by Tom Welling, receives an updated black suit in fan art, resembling the DC comics version.
- The possibility of a Smallville revival, either as an animated or live-action series, would be exciting as the show continues to gain new audiences through streaming and home media releases.
- A potential revival could provide fans with a glimpse into what the characters have been up to since the show ended, making it a timely opportunity now that the Arrowverse has concluded.
Tom Welling’s Superman gets a proper black suit similar to the DC comics version via new Smallville fan art. The Arrowverse may have been The CW’s longest-running superhero franchise, but it wouldn’t have been possible had Smallville not paved the way for it for a decade on The WB before its merger with UPN in 2006. To this day, Smallville continues to be the ultimate Clark Kent origin story as it depicts a young Man of Steel discovering his Kryptonian heritage before becoming Superman.
While Smallville season 9 featured Clark in a black costume as their own little adaptation of The Death of Superman, it was definitely a prototype version, to say the least. To give a better idea of what Welling could have looked like in the traditional black Superman suit, Buffy2Ville shared artwork of The CW star in a far more comics-accurate design.
The gallery also imagines other actors in the black costume, including Jon Hamm and Matt Bomer, who almost got close to getting cast as Superman in past DC projects. The artwork also features Henry Cavill in his black costume, as he is the only Superman actor in the live-action movies who has worn a variation of it.
Will A Smallville Revival Ever Happen?
As Smallville continues to find new audiences worldwide through streaming and home media releases, it begs the question if a revival will ever happen at this point. Given how Smallville is one of the biggest Superman TV shows of all time, Warner Bros. could capitalize on the iconic DC TV drama, especially if they insist on continuing to lean into Elseworlds stories in the midst of James Gunn’s DC Universe. Technically, a Smallville revival already happened, but in comic form when DC Comics published Smallville season 11 as an official tie-in companion piece after the TV show concluded in 2011.
Even Welling and his Smallville co-star Michael Rosenbaum have been developing an animated show that is meant to be a direct continuation. Although the project hasn’t had any new updates lately, it only feels like a matter of time before Smallville makes a comeback, whether it be as an animated series or a live-action sequel series. A Smallville revival would also be timely as the Arrowverse has come to an end on The CW, along with most DC TV shows on other platforms.
If Smallville got to come back, it could even be as a limited event series that could give the audience another taste of what these characters have been up to since the show ended over a decade ago. Once the ongoing Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes are over, perhaps more updates will emerge about the potential Smallville revival. Hopefully, whether it be in the foreseeable or distant future, Smallville will return in some capacity and continue one of Superman’s best live-action adaptations.
Source: Buffy2Ville/Instagram
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