Had Smallville’s creators continued to be part of the collection in its closing seasons, the present might’ve featured a distinct ending. Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who developed the Superman prequel collection, served as showrunners by means of its first seven seasons. But whereas each have been liable for a lot of what transpired in Clark’s journey, neither performed a task in the way it all wrapped up.
While particular particulars remained ambiguous, the endgame for Smallville was by no means a secret. With Gough and Millar on the helm, it was made clear from the very starting that the collection was strictly about Tom Welling’s Clark Kent changing into Superman. However, each exited the collection on the finish of season 7, permitting new showrunners to take the wheel initially of season 8, which sparked a major shift within the artistic course of the present. Looking at how Smallville concluded Clark’s story, it is value questioning what would have occurred if this main shake-up hadn’t occurred. Here’s the whole lot that is recognized in regards to the unique imaginative and prescient for the present’s ending when the collection started.
Smallville Wasn’t Supposed To Last For 10 Seasons
There was by no means any intention for Smallville to run for ten seasons. Long after the present was over, Millar and Gough confirmed that they had began out with a five-year plan for Clark’s Smallville story, but it surely ended up lasting for much longer than that [via KryptonSite] Knowing that the community needed the present to transcend season 8, Gough and Millar determined to stroll away from the present after the conclusion of season 7 and transfer on to different tasks. Gough claimed that that they had already advised the tales they needed to inform [via THR].
In hindsight, it is clear that the present wasn’t designed for a ten-season run. Clark’s path towards changing into Superman needed to be stretched out to 10 full years. Of course, the most important situation in making that work was the continued dedication to the guideline that Clark could not fly or put on the swimsuit. As Gough stated, the collection finally grew to become “slaves” to that rule [via Collider]. As the collection went on, Clark encountered an increasing number of of Superman’s most iconic villains, however was unable to struggle them because the Man of Steel. Because regardless of how lengthy the present lasted or what number of Superman tales it integrated, Clark suiting up as Superman was by no means on the desk.
What Smallville’s Final Scene Would Have Been
According to the creators, one factor they knew was all the time going to occur of their model of the collection finale was the ultimate scene. What that they had in thoughts was Clark placing on Superman’s trademark swimsuit and flying away in full-costume. In different phrases, Clark would not put on the swimsuit or fly till the very finish, because it was their purpose for the present to remain true to its strict “No Tights, No Flights” rule. After their departure, Smallville continued to implement this method, however did not precisely ship the ultimate scene as Millar and Gough laid it out.
How Smallville lastly unveiled the Superman swimsuit grew to become a serious level of criticism relating to the collection finale. In distinction to what Gough and Millar had all the time described as their plan for a way the costume would make its debut, Smallville did not finish with Clark flying. Instead, its closing shot was Clark arriving on the roof of the Daily Planet and ripping open his shirt whereas making ready to take flight. As the digital camera zoomed in on the Superman emblem, the finale got here to an finish. Clark taking off wasn’t really proven in any respect.
Rather than let Clark fly within the final scene, the collection labored this extremely anticipated second into the episode a couple of minutes prior. When Darkseid’s Apokolips was about to crash into the Earth, Clark was seen flying into the planet as Superman and pushing it away. Afterward, Smallville confirmed Clark floating out in area in full costume, albeit from a distance. The proven fact that this was all performed with CGI and with out Welling ever bodily placing on the swimsuit made this a controversial ending to Smallville’s ten-season run.
Clark & Lex’s Dynamic Would’ve Been A Key Part Of Smallville’s Ending
After being a collection common for seven seasons, Michael Rosenbaum left Smallville and did not reprise his Lex Luthor function once more till the collection finale. During his time on the present, Lex’s relationship with Clark was essential to the material of the collection, and that remained the case even when their friendship lastly dissolved at the start of season 5. When he was introduced again for the finale, his function wasn’t way more than a cameo. The cornerstone of Clark’s arc within the episode was his efforts to cease Darkseid, with Lex’s resurrection being relegated to a aspect story tied to Tess Mercer’s arc. Lex’s return arrange his storied rivalry with Superman from DC Comics finally occurring in Clark’s post-Smallville future, however the two did not cross paths within the finale.
Rosenbaum’s exit might have made a few of these artistic choices troublesome to keep away from, however they actually weren’t what Smallville’s creators hoped to do with the Lex Luthor character and the ending of the collection. Gough stated up to now that their plan concerned extra give attention to the Clark-Lex dynamic. If obstacles resembling Rosenbaum’s long-term absence from the present weren’t in play, it is doubtless that Smallville would’ve made Clark’s private battle with Lex a central a part of the ending relatively than maintain his consideration on Apokolips and Darkseid.
Smallville’s Ending Would’ve Paid Off A Season 1 Tease
In addition to retaining Lex part of the collection, Gough and Millar had all the time deliberate to repay a memorable tease from season 1. In “Hourglass,” Lex met Cassandra, an aged lady who might see the longer term by touching an individual’s hand. The finish of the episode confirmed Cassandra dying after catching a horrific glimpse into Lex’s destiny. Dressed in a white swimsuit, Lex was the President of the United States in Cassandra’s imaginative and prescient. He was proven standing amidst a area of corpses as blood rained down on him from the sky. What she noticed confirmed that regardless of Lex being depicted as a really good particular person at coronary heart, his character was nonetheless destined to comply with within the footsteps of his counterpart.
Gough and Millar hoped to include this reveal into Smallville’s finale. They felt that Clark going to the White House to interview President Luthor can be a great “framing device” for the finale. Ultimately, Lex was introduced again too late within the present’s run for this plan to be realized onscreen, however Clark Kent’s cameo within the Arrowverse’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” occasion included a “President Luthor” reference that lastly fulfilled Cassandra’s imaginative and prescient of his future. An older model of Clark making a remark about Lex being the president confirmed that the villain did certainly purchase the nation’s highest workplace sooner or later after the present’s closing episode.
