He’s back! The son of Krypton is set to return to our screens in James Gunn‘s Superman, which is set to arrive in theaters next summer. The Man of Steel has, over many decades, continued to be a star attraction and in this latest iteration, David Corenswet will take on the red cape and Rachel Brosnahan will star as Lois Lane. Tom Welling and Erica Durance had previously both played iconic roles in one of the best Superman stories to date, the television series, Smallville. And Welling is ready to return to Smallville, with the actor currently developing an animated revival of the original series with former co-star Michael Rosenbaum.
There would certainly be many fans of the original series who would be interested in Welling and Rosenbaum‘s animated revival. However, there is one major hurdle for the pair to clear before the revival becomes a reality. During a promotional chat for his new movie, Mafia Wars, Welling revealed to Screen Rant that Warner Bros. and DC Studios have yet to sign off on the animated Smallville sequel series. Welling’s comments read:
“I’ll tell you where it’s at: We need Warner Brothers and DC to let us do it. We’ve got Al [Gough] and Miles [Millar,] who are very busy doing a TV show called Wednesday . But they created Smallville , they want to write it. We just need to go ahead from DC and Warner Brothers . “So if you know anybody over there…because, listen, this is a passion project. It’s not going to be a blockbuster, it’s for the fans. All the actors want to do the voices of the characters – we’re all in. We just need them to let us use the property.”
Besides Welling and Rosenbaum, who seem at the forefront of the push for a Smallville revival series. It seems other stars from the original series, as mentioned by Welling in his recent comment, would love a return. Durance, who plays Lois Lane in the series, has shown great interest in exploring the character even further. “I’d love to have explored where she would have gone further in her career,” the actress revealed. “Whether it was for her to be a mother, how she balanced all of that. I’d like to delve a little more into her past, her experiences with her dad, and how her upbringing shaped her a little bit more and just seeing her grow into another person, a grown up version of herself.”
Not Another Origin Story
Smallville ran from 2001 to 2011 and was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. A truly engrossing watch, Smallville set the groundwork for The CW’s Superman & Lois, and Gunn and Peter Safran‘s Superman. The upcoming movie will focus on Clark Kent, who embarks on a journey to “reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing.” Gunn‘s Superman won’t be another origin story like many which came before it. The movie also casts Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner aka Green Lantern, Nicholas Hoult as antagonist Lex Luthor, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Pruitt Taylor Vince as Jonathan Kent, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher among others.
Superman will headline the beginning of the DCU exclusively in theaters on July 11, 2025. You can stream all episodes of the original Smallville on Hulu.
via Collider