Summary
- New fan art envisions potential upgraded costumes for the Smallville Justice League, including Tom Welling’s Superman and other iconic characters.
- Despite Smallville ending in 2011, there is still a strong desire from fans to see a continuation of the Smallville Justice League storyline.
- Smallville almost had a Justice League spinoff show, but it ultimately didn’t happen, possibly due to Warner Bros.’ cinematic plans for the characters at the time.
New Smallville fan art gives Tom Welling’s Superman and the rest of the Justice League from his universe new costumes. While the DCEU brought the Justice League together on the big screen, the team came to life on the small screen through the Superman prequel live-action show, Smallville, focusing on Clark Kent’s origin story. Throughout the later seasons, numerous members of the Justice League made their way into the DC TV show while fleshing out Smallville’s own version of the DC Universe and adding to Clark’s heroic journey before becoming the Man of Steel.
While the show ended in 2011, the season 11 tie-in comic saw the Smallville Justice League roster expanded even further, with heroes like Wonder Woman, Batman, and Green Lantern joining the team. Despite it having been over a decade since Smallville’s conclusion, the audience still wants to see a continuation for these characters.
To show what they could look like in a potential Smallville sequel, Buffy2Ville shared a gallery of the Justice League, showing them with upgraded costumes. The images include Welling’s Superman, Aquaman, Impulse now operating as The Flash, Green Arrow, Cyborg, as well as Kara Zor-El, finally in a proper Supergirl suit. The artwork also features Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor, both in his presidential suit as well as Lexosuit armor.
How Smallville Almost Had A Justice League Spinoff Show
While Smallville didn’t get to expand its universe in the way that the Arrowverse did, the Superman prequel show was actually close to making a Justice League spinoff show. In 2007, during Smallville season 6, Steven DeKnight, one of the long-time writers on the show, wrote and directed the episode “Justice,” which saw the team finally come together. According to DeKnight, the episode was meant to serve as an unofficial backdoor pilot for a potential Justice League show, focusing specifically on Green Arrow, Impulse, Aquaman, and Cyborg.
If Smallville’s Justice League show had happened, it would have been set in Metropolis, likely to make crossovers with Welling’s show easier to happen. A new version of Brainiac would have been introduced rather than have James Marsters continue playing him. The reason why Justice League never happened is likely because of whatever cinematic plans Warner Bros. had for them at the time. In the end, Smallville’s Justice League spinoff became another big DC TV show that never happened.
It would be interesting to see what Smallville’s Justice League would look like today if the show got a series revival. Whether it be in live-action or through the animated project that Welling and Rosenbaum have been developing, it would be fun to follow their story, especially if they introduced other Justice League members. Even if Smallville never comes back, the audience can relive every season of the show through Hulu or on Blu-Ray/DVD.
Source: Buffy2Ville/Instagram
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