The Best Superman Now Streaming In The Last Place You Expect
Long before filmmakers such as Zack Snyder and James Gunn had the opportunity to helm Superman films of their own, The WB premiered a series that changed the landscape of superhero origin stories forever. Smallville showed Clark Kent as you’ve never seen him before, growing up misunderstood in a fictional Kansas town, as he grows into the planet-saving hero fans knew he would eventually become.
The series serves as a grounded, low-stakes iteration of the character, which followed the now famous motto “no tights, no flights” and eventually became a blueprint for a number of classic comic book adaptations to follow.
Smallville On Disney+
Despite Warner Brothers owning both the Superman character and the now-defunct WB network, Smallville is available to stream on Disney+.
More specifically, the series is available to stream on the Hulu section of Disney+. It is still currently in beta, and requires a subscription to both services to access. The show aired over 200 episodes in the course of 10 seasons, running from 2001 until 2011.
Smallville Is A Clark Kent Origin Story
Smallville was developed for television by the writer-producer duo of Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, who previously wrote together on films such as The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2.
The pair originally got the idea to helm a Clark Kent origin series after producers had unsuccessfully pitched a Batman series to the network which was set to focus on Bruce Wayne in the years before he donned the iconic mask.
Once the Batman project fizzled out, the duo pitched Warner Brothers executives on a no-frills story that would focus on Kent developing his worldview as a morally conscious young man, getting his start as a journalist with the Daily Bugle.
Smallville Was A Hit
Needless to say, Smallville went on to become a massive hit, and received universal praise from critics and general audiences alike. The show even had a few cameo appearances from famed Superman film actor Christopher Reeve, in what would be the star’s final credited on-screen performance.
Recently, Miles Millar and Alfred Gough have worked together to co-create the hit Jenna Ortega-led Netflix series Wednesday, showcasing their longevity in the industry and genre-bending versatility.
Smallville Was Influential
The Emmy Award-winning series contains performances from a number of popular actors, known for their work in other superhero projects. This includes Shazam‘s John Glover, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Michael Rosenbaum, and Tom Welling, who reprised his role as Clark Kent in a 2019 episode of Batwoman.
Though Smallville may not be frequently referenced by name in the modern cinematic landscape, the show’s influence can be seen all over popular culture, in franchises such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DCU, and even in Amazon series’ such as Invincible.
Backstory And Human Connection
Smallville‘s uncanny ability to provide a long-form grounded backstory to a beloved spandex-wearing comic book character helped to prove to studios far and wide that audiences were willing to accept more humanity in their heroes.
This deeply human connection would later serve as a reference for characters such as Captain America and Iron Man. Those guys spend as much time in their cinematic outings wearing jeans and T-shirts while waxing poetic about the state of the world as they do beating the snot out of their alien foes.
Stream Smallville On Disney+’s Hulu Section
If you have not yet had the pleasure of binging multiple seasons of Smallville in a single leap, the Clark Kent-centered narrative is available to stream on Disney+ today with a Hulu extension.
