Smallville's Tom Welling On His Superman Legacy, The Animated Sequel Show, Cruiseville & More

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Smallville

Tom Welling shares his journey of telling Clark Kent's origin story through Smallville and the DC TV show's ever-expanding following 13 years after the series finale. Despite the Smallville ending having taken place more than a decade ago, the Superman prequel drama is gaining new fans all over the world year after year. With streaming and home media releases being bigger than ever, Smallville is consistently growing its audience, with a new generation getting to witness the story of how Clark would become the Man of Steel.

With the show's popularity expanding, the Smallville cast has been traveling across the world to meet fans from various countries at numerous conventions. As the DC TV drama continues to be celebrated globally, Smallville is increasingly becoming a classic series that many hope will come back for a series revival. While the Smallville series finale saw Clark finally become Superman, the story is far from over, as there is more territory to explore with this particular version of the DC mythology.

Smallville's Tom Welling in front of important images from the show.

10 Ways The Smallville Sequel Show Could Perfectly Continue The Original DC Series

A Smallville animated sequel is in the works, and it could easily build on the perfect foundation the original DC Comics series created.

ScreenRant recently attended this year's Comic Con Stockholm, where Welling was one of the talents present at the European event to meet Smallville fans and celebrate the show. During the convention, ScreenRant sat down with Welling for an exclusive interview in which the DC star reflected on the decade-long run playing Clark and seeing his evolution into Superman. Welling also looked to the potential future of Smallville returning for a sequel show and the larger presence the series has in pop culture, including an exciting new event coming up in 2025 with multiple cast members for the fans.

Tom Welling Looks Back On Smallville's Unforgettable Journey For Superman's Legacy

ScreenRant: Is it surreal seeing the following the show has even beyond America because worldwide now, Smallville is streaming everywhere?

Tom Welling: I remember back in the day, a lot of times when a show travel around the globe, whether it's Brazil or South Africa, those are state-run television programmes. As soon as they could get it, they would air it, but they would air it a lot. When I was in South Africa a couple of years ago, and one of the people I was working with, he was like, 'Oh yeah, I grew up on it.' He goes, 'They played an episode every two hours. So whether you liked the show or not, it was on TV. Everybody here knows who you are because they don't have a choice!' [laughs] So it's like being shown a picture all day, every day. So I guess my point is I had experienced the idea that it was a global thing, but as we were talking before, it's also such a good-natured show that the fans seem to be warmhearted.

Tom Welling On Finding A New Smallville Experience Through His & Michael Rosenbaum's Talk Ville Podcast

"What I'm seeing, watching it, is how the characters are growing up."

TalkVille Podcast's Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum Caricatures

You guys on the Talk Ville Podcast are closing in at the end of season 5. What has been the biggest revelation or thing that you've rediscovered or learned for the first time watching the show, whether it is from other actors coming on the podcast talking about their experiences?

Tom Welling: One of my favorite things about the show is when we call [Smallville creators] Al [Gough] and Miles [Millar] - sometimes, Michael will just call Al, his brain is ridiculous. We'll call him out of the blue. We don't plan it, ever! Michael just calls him, and he's like, 'Hey, we're in season 4, episode 3,' he'll say that, and Al knows what we're talking about. He's amazing. But I think Al had told us that season 5 was probably our best season. What I'm seeing, watching it, is how the characters are growing up. I don't think that when we were doing the show that I had realized that was happening. You don't have a chance to really sit back and see a bigger picture because you're getting scripts every week.

And filming 18 hours a day.

Tom Welling: And no one says, 'Oh, this is a season where your characters grow up.' But there was one moment that I really thought was funny. It was an episode called Hypnotic that we just did. Clark comes in, and he is hypnotized, he throws the Lex Luthor across into a wall.

As happens many, many, many times.

Tom Welling: Lex goes, 'Clark, you're hypnotized. You're not yourself! That's how you could throw me across the room.' We just started laughing about that. But I think that's the biggest thing is, looking back at it now and rewatching it, I see a bigger trend that I wasn't aware of at the time.

Yeah, because your show didn't grow up in that social media era as it was just rising during Smallville seasons 9-10. That's when I remember seeing a lot more live-tweeting.

Tom Welling: We went from Motorola Razrs to Blackberries to finally, at the end, iPhones. That was that 10 years!

Custom image by Yailin Chacon

One of the things that you and I talked about last time we spoke; everyone wants Smallville to come back. They want it to come back so badly. I talked to you, I talked to Erica [Durance,] I talked to Michael [Rosenbaum] about it. Do you have any updates since we last spoke about the animated sequel?

Tom Welling: We want it to work. The honest answer is we have not been able to get Warner Brothers to give us the thumbs up. We need their permission.

Are they just not open to it, or are they just not responding?

Tom Welling: [Laughs] We haven't even gotten a response! It's the weirdest thing because it is more of a fan-driven idea. It's not going to be a blockbuster. It's not going to be a financial windfall for any of us. We all like each other, we all like working together, and if we could do it, it'd be fun. But Warner Bros. - and I'm not hating on them - they just haven't gotten back to us. It's not a priority for them.

So it's not a no, but it's not a yes, either?

Tom Welling: It's like a not-returning-phone-calls-thing. [laughs]

I think what we're going to do is we've got to get Michael to call his buddy James Gunn...

Tom Welling: I know! We joked about it. Michael says, 'Oh, James is so busy.' I think it'd be a fun idea. We already have the animation done. I don't know if Michael shared it already, but we have a poster for it. It's [with] the cast and Lionel Luthor looming behind [them.]

Yeah, how is that going to work? I know you said you guys are still on season 5, but Lex kind of kills him! [laughs]

Tom Welling: We want Al and Miles to write it. They've expressed interest, but they're also busy working on Wednesday with Tim Burton. I think because it's not a big financial gain for anybody, it's getting less [priority.]

Tom Welling Reveals If He Has Ever Explored The Smallville Season 11 Comic

Superman and Batman in Jump into Battle in Smallville Season 11 Comic Book Covers

I know you probably can't tell much about the story, but did you follow the season 11 comic that came out after the show?

Tom Welling: No, never read it! I've signed some, but I've never opened it.

Has it been weird kind of seeing that yourself now, 'Oh, I'm in the suit, I'm hanging out with so and so'?

Tom Welling: It is for a second, and then I'm talking to the next person! [laughs] You'd think that I would read 'em all, but I really don't have one to read. There are moments where I'm like, 'Oh, I should read that,' and then I kind of forget.

You get to do a lot of cool stuff now in that comic. You meet Batman, you meet Wonder Woman, you lead the Justice League. So there's a lot of cool stuff you got to do.

Tom Welling: Maybe we should do a podcast about that later. Michael and I should read it and do a podcast review!

You guys should react to it!

Tom Welling: That would be funny! [laughs]

Tom Welling On Exploring Smallville Seasons 8-10 On TalkVille Podcast With Michael Rosenbaum

Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor and Tom Welling as Clark Kent looking at each other In The Smallville Series Finale

Is there a season in particular that you're most excited for Michael to see for the first time from what you recall of seasons 8-10?

Tom Welling: We talked about this briefly: I don't remember what happens! I know that the Red-Blue-Blur becomes a thing. Clark and Lois get closer, but the day to day, I don't even know getting to the end of season five, I'm not even really sure what happens with Brainiac. I'm, like Michael, watching it for the first time again.

I spoke to James Marsters last month and I asked him, 'Would you want to come back?' And he could not gush more about you guys.

Tom Welling: Oh, he's great. We adore him. He was just so great. I always look forward to working with him. One of the things I really adore about him is he is so interested that he's interesting, if that makes any sense. He really just came in, played the perfect character, was a great guy to be around. I felt we were really doing something special when we were working together. We've had him on the podcast a couple of times, and then afterward Michael's like, 'Welling, shut up, dude!' Because all I do is praise him. I love him so much.

How The Smallville Team Got Around The "No Tights" Rule Before Superman Suit-Up In Series Finale

"It's literally in the contract, and I say that with a smile on my face."

Tom Welling as Clark Kent with his different Blur costumes on Smallville

He's James Marsters, he's Spike to all of us. You were talking about the Red-Blue-Blur for a second. Let me ask you something. I know in the past you had certain feelings about wearing the suit, but then around 8 and 9, we saw you in lots of suits...

Tom Welling: They tricked me! [Laughs]

What did those conversations look like for you to agree that, 'Okay, I'll don a suit, but not the suit.'

Tom Welling: What happened, technically in my original contract, it said I would never [wear the costume.]

No Tights, No Flights!

Tom Welling: It's literally in the contract, and I say that with a smile on my face because they tried a couple [of] times. But my whole thing was once Clark puts the suit on, it's no longer Smallville. It's about Superman, it's not about Clark. I signed on to tell a story about Clark Kent. But yeah, they got a little cheeky about it. Even there's one episode where they had me wear glasses like the reporter. I remember this because I'm in the Luthor Mansion, and I'm taking a corner, and it's written that I adjust the glasses. If you watch it, I do this thing where I use my middle finger, and I went like this [shows him adjusting the glasses,] and that's on purpose.

[Laughs] Oh my God, I thought that was just an accident, I was like, 'Is Clark flipping us off?!'

Tom Welling: Because that's how I felt about it and then I did a little bit of research and realized that some people do that. They use their middle finger, they kind of go like this, but I went like this. But again, now it seems so precious at the time, but now these many years later, looking back, it's like, 'Dude, get over yourself. You're on a show about Superman. Of course, they're going to ask you to do this. Get over yourself!'

So, hindsight is 20/20, but I don't think that I missed any opportunity to put on a Superman suit that would've helped the show. I always hold onto the fact that it was about a kid in high school and then slightly after high school. Because then we have this joke on Talk Ville, you may have heard it - Ryan [Tellez,] who's on the show [with us.]

I love him. I heard he got so much love at Salute to Smallville!

Tom Welling: He did, people were asking for pictures. It was awesome! He really enjoyed it. A lot of times, our shooting schedule is based on Michael and I's availability, and a lot of conflicts come from the Comic Cons we do. The idea of bringing Ryan out, he was like, 'I want to see what these things are that you guys keep talking about!' Because I'll be gone for a week. Michael will be gone for a week or we'll be gone together. So he got to see it, and he was like, 'Oh no, I get it.' But my point is he came up with this term, "suspension of disbelief," and Ryan came up with "suspenders of disbelief." So we kind of joke that we're going to sell suspenders for people to put on while they watch this show because there are things you just kind of have to let go a little.

Tom Welling Reflects On Acting, Directing & Executive Producing During His Smallville Journey

Tom Welling from Crisis on Infinite Earths and his final shot in the Smallville series finale

As much as I love Tom Welling, the actor, I also love Tom Welling, the director as you directed some phenomenal episodes. What was that experience like? Because there was a point where you were directing, executive producing, and starring in it. We don't see a lot of actors doing that, so how did you juggle all of that?

Tom Welling: First of all, I was there anyway! [laughs] But I've never directed anything that I haven't acted in. Because every episode I was in, every episode I directed, I was in. So I don't know what the difference is, but at the same point, I could see where that would be great just to direct because then you don't have the makeup trailer or the distractions. But I was also with a crew that I was very familiar with after five years of being with them, a cast that I had a shorthand with, so I was in a very warm environment to do that. I did see people try to do more for me because we were all a team. So that was very thankful, but I really enjoyed it because I guess part [of] the reason why the directing/executive producer/acting [was something] that I liked is I felt like all those were different languages that informed me as an actor also.

The better you can understand directing, the better you can talk to your director. The better you understand the producing, the more you can talk to your producers. And the thing about the executive producer credit [that] was great, is I'd access knowledge that they didn't give me before. If I asked a question, they had to tell me because I was the executive producer. Whereas an actor, they're like, 'Don't worry, you're the actor. Just do your little thing in front of the camera.' But when you're executive producer, I'm like, 'Why is this this way?' and they have to answer you. So I think I liked that, and I think, also, after so many years on the show, it gave me more interesting things to do. I liked the process. Even when I went and asked [for the] executive producer credit, and I remember my attorney saying, 'Well, they only give that to people who take day part in everyday production.' I'm like, 'I'm here every day for five years!' [Laughs]

They went, 'Oh, I guess you're right.' But it's also the whole crew, the other producers, we were already cool. So it wasn't like, 'Uh-oh, we're giving the actor more credit, and he's going to be a pain in the ass.' It felt very natural, the whole thing. But I guess from a director's thing, it's just really cool when you're directing, and there's an actor, and in between takes, you suggest the note, and then you roll the camera, and they take it, they run with it. It's like magic, it's the most rewarding thing in the world; and I want to do more of it.

What Type Of Superman Costume Would Tom Welling Don?

You have talked about that you would be open to now donning the suit at some point. Superman has evolved and had a lot of looks over the years. Is there a particular version that you would prefer? And of course, the biggest debate is trunks or no trunks for Superman.

Tom Welling: Oh my gosh, I didn't even think about that!

People are fighting over it.

Tom Welling: Really?

They will fight over it for hours that the red shorts have to be there. When Henry Cavill's Superman happened, my God...

Tom Welling: Did he have trunks?

He did not have trunks.

Tom Welling: But the original Batman and Robin; they had trunks. But then now in the movies, they don't have trunks, right? I think the more modern way would probably [mean] no trunks. I'm trying to imagine, I never thought about it before. One of the reasons I think I had been resistant to it [was] because of my own hang-ups. But now that I have two little boys, I think it'd be cool because they already call me that, which is cool. But I think that would be my preference or motivation.

Tom Welling Previews The Debut Of Cruiseville With The Smallville Cast

"It's like doing a con, but you're not at the con all day."

Let's talk about the Smallville cruise! What is this about, what can you tell me?

Tom Welling: So it is a brand new idea; you guys are the first to really talk about it, which is going to be great. We've been working on it for about two years, and we're going to go down numerous ports of call. It's me, Michael, Erica, Laura [Vandervoort.] Kristin [Kreuk] can't make it, and then we're going to add some more people. And during the 7-day cruise, we have daily excursions that you can choose to do with different actors. Michael wants to do everything together with me, so we'll probably do that.

But whether it's Jet-skiing with Tom or Ziplining with Erica, or lunch or a dinner, all these different things will be offered. You can choose whatever you want in a sense and I've never done one before. JP who obviously right there, he's done it with Star Trek and other casts, and apparently it's just fun. I've never even been on an actual cruise ship before. I've been on boats, but I've never been on a cruise ship. So this will all be new for me, but hopefully, the turnout's going to be really big, and if it is, we'll do it again. If not, then this'll be it. You can find information at Cruiseville.com !

It takes off in Florida, and it goes down Port Canaveral, Florida, Cococay, Bahamas. So, it's warm, Puerto Costa. Maya, Mexico, Roatán, Honduras, Cozumel, Mexico, and then back to Port Canaveral. It'll be fun - there's one day that we get off the boat, and there's Aztec temples, and I'll have a group of people that come with me. June 15-22, 2025!

It's like the second newest ship. It's the second largest class of ship and they're building more of them and the biggest class of ship, which is the technically newest, but this one is two years old. Hopefully, we get a big turnout, and we do more of them, but I think it's going to be pretty cool. I guess one of the ways, you even said, it's like doing a con, but you're not at the con all day. It's really only a couple hours of the day that there's things we have to do, and after that, you're just chilling.

More About Smallville Seasons 1 - 10

After a meteor shower bursts from the heavens, raining destruction on the unsuspecting citizens of Smallville, years pass, and the healing process leaves the town's inhabitants with scars and secrets. From the ashes of tragedy, a popular yet awkward teen attempts to decipher the meaning of his life and his clouded past. As he struggles with the transition from boyhood to adulthood, Clark finds that his strength and strange abilities set him uncomfortably apart from his peers.