Movies

'Smallville' Actors Are Working On An Animated Sequel Series

Smallville animated
By Ben Pearson/

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Smallville, The CW's superhero series that focused on a young Clark Kent before he fully took on the Superman mantle. The successful show ran for 10 seasons and inspired a comic book continuation of its story, but now actor Tom Welling, who played Clark, has revealed that he and former co-star Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor, have teamed up to develop a Smallville animated sequel series.

Is a Smallville Animated Series Really Happening?

Comic Book Resources pointed us to a recent tweet which contains a Cameo message from Welling, in which the actor/producer/director appears to talk about working on a Smallville animated series with his old on-screen frenemy. "Michael Rosenbaum and I are actually working on an animated series to bring those characters back to life, and use as many of the original cast members as possible," Welling reveals. "Don't tell anybody, though. It's a secret. We're still working on it."

This is far from a concrete confirmation that an animated Smallville show could actually see the light of day, but unless their scripts totally suck, I'm struggling to see a reason why this couldn't happen. Warner Bros. Entertainment holds the copyright to Smallville, and though the live-action series eventually aired on The CW, which is owned by CBS, it was actually produced by Warner Bros. TV, so it doesn't seem like there would be any complicated rights issues when it comes to making an animated continuation.

Unless I'm missing something, this animated sequel could conceivably find a home on Warner's streaming service, HBO Max, which is always looking for content and is not shy about making animated series. So is this follow-up really happening? Not officially...but it might be more accurate to say "not yet."

I Can Think of One Cast Member Who Won't Be Coming Back

Welling's plan to bring "as many of the original cast members as possible" is clearly a reference to Allison Mack, the actress who played Clark Kent's journalist pal Chloe on the series and then became well known for her participation in the NXIVM sex cult, where she branded women and blackmailed them into sleeping with the cult's founder, Keith Raniere. She was arrested for racketeering in 2018, and her sentencing is slated for next week; if convicted, she faces a minimum of 15 years in prison.

But the prospect of Welling reuniting with cast members like Rosenbaum (who played one of the best Lex Luthors ever), Kristin Kreuk, and Erica Durance is exciting, and as a fan of the original series, I hope this ends up coming to fruition.

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