Tom Welling Is Returning To Smallville
Superman is coming home.
Superhero movies and shows are now the movie and TV events of the year, but way back in 2001 the genre was in its early stages. You had the success of movies like Tim Burton’s Batman and the Christopher Reeve Superman films, but the genre wasn’t really jumpstarted again until 2002’s Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire and the kickoff of the MCU with Iron Man in 2008. But before that super renaissance was in full effect, we had a little show called Smallville that featured Tom Welling as a teenage Clark Kent. Now fans can revisit the series with new context, as Welling and co-star Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor, are teaming up for a rewatch podcast.
Rewatch podcasts like Talking Sopranos and Office Ladies have been hugely successful, as fans get to rewatch their favorite shows, tune in to a podcast about the episode, and get behind-the-scenes tidbits from the stars that made the shows so good. Having Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum team up for what they’re calling Talk Ville, seems like the perfect way to renew interest in the proto-Superman series. The first episode of Talk Ville premieres July 13th from Cumulus Media. There will be new episodes released every Wednesday, so fans can have a week to check out the next episode in the series before tuning in. It is set to be available on most major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and Google Podcasts.
Although it’s been a while since we’ve seen Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum on-screen as the eternal nemesis duo of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, the two have remained good friends since the show ended in 2011. Since then, we’ve had plenty of DC superhero shows to fill the void left by Smallville. While Smallville originally aired on The WB, it eventually moved to The CW, which introduced Arrow in 2012, kicking off the interconnected group of DC series known as the Arrowverse. While Arrow is over, there are still several series going strong like The Flash and the latest Superman series Superman & Lois. Other CW shows have met abrupt and unfortunate ends, likely due to the Warner Discovery merger, much to the chagrin of fans. The latest victims were Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow.
Fortunately for fans of Smallville, a cancellation was avoided. Tom Welling and other fan-favorite members of the cast returned for a 10th and final season that brought closure to the story and characters they grew attached to over the years. With Talk Ville, we’re getting more Smallville content ten years after the show came to an end. If we’re lucky, we may even get more Smallville stories in the future, as the cast has mentioned that there is an animated series in the works. Rosenbaum and Welling have teased this series as recently as last year, but it’s unclear if Warner Bros will give the go-ahead in the wake of all the moving pieces of their new merger. In either case, we’ll keep you updated on if the animated series will be moving forward in the future.
