Tom Welling Returning As Superman?
Tom Welling and Erica Durance have confirmed their willingness to appear in a Smallville reunion movie or special.
Smallville stars Tom Welling, Erica Durance, and Laura Vandervoort appeared at the MCM London Comic Con over the weekend, and gave fans hope that we may see them all reunite one day. During a Smallville panel at the event, the obvious question about a reunion show or special came up, and, as shown in video from the panel, Welling and Durance are game to reprise their roles. Rumors of a Smallville continuation have stirred since Welling and Durance reunited for a brief cameo as their Smallville characters in the 2019 Arrowverse crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”
“Like our own multiverse?” Tom Welling inquired when asked about a reunion. “Sure, why not,” he said. Durance chimed in as well. “I’d be fun,” she said, according to Comic Book Resources.
Fans have been clamoring for a reunion special or movie ever since the 2019 cameo, which left more questions than answers. In the episode of Batwoman in which the cameo was featured, Tom Welling’s Clark revealed he gave up his powers to live a normal, mortal life with Durance’s Lois Lane and their children on the Kent farm in Smallville. A reunion could fill in the narrative gaps the cameo created and insert some needed plot points, including an idea Welling had about having Bruce Wayne visit Smallville.
The recent sale of The CW network (which aired Smallville) to Nexstar will complicate any potential special or reunion. Nexstar is completely changing the network’s programming, moving away from scripted series and towards reality programming geared for older audiences. As a result, most of the DC shows on the network have been canceled, most recently Stargirl, but Tom Welling does have another place he can hang his cape: HBO Max.
The streaming service, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, is the home of DC movies and shows, and even has its own “DC hub” on the app. DC shows on other networks, particularly Pennyworth and Titans, eventually moved their shows to HBO Max, and it would be the perfect place for a Smallville reunion special.
Smallville aired for ten seasons and 217 episodes, with Tom Welling starring in each one. Durance joined the show in season four, quickly becoming a fan favorite with her feisty interpretation of Lois.
The series has continued in a DC comic book, but both Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum, who memorably played Lex Luther in the series, have been developing a possible animated series, which would continue the storyline. There hasn’t been much movement on the series’ development, but Welling has revealed that former cast members John Glover (who played Lionel Luthor), Sam Jones III (Pete Ross) and Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang) would return in a potential animated series.
Post-Smallville, Tom Welling has kept busy in a number of movies and films, including Draft Day, Parkland, and the hit series Lucifer. He most recently joined the Supernatural spinoff The Winchesters. Erica Durance has starred in the medical drama Saving Hope, as well as in the CW series Supergirl. She has also starred in a number of popular Christmas movies for the Hallmark Channel, most recently We Need a Little Christmas, which premiered in October.
